Six months into the war between Israel and Hamas, public opinion here in the UK has shifted greatly.
The militant group’s cross-border raid that claimed 1,200 Israeli lives on October 7 plunged the region into a brutal war which has since seen 30,000 Palestinians – including an estimated 14,500 children – killed.
Each Saturday since the war began, thousands of protesters have been taking to the streets in capital cities around the world, including London. Now a mass humanitarian crisis has been declared as those Gazans left in the strip are starving and increasingly besieged.
A recent Israeli attack that killed seven aid workers – three Britons, a Palestinian, an Australian, a Pole and a dual US-Canadian citizen – sparked outrage as they were traveling in vehicles clearly marked with their charity logo. And the strike has now further stoked discontent with the ongoing war in the United Kingdom.
The opening salvo of the war between Hamas and Israel began with the Supernova music festival massacre in the southern Israeli desert.
Militants then moved into Israeli settlements dotted by the Gaza border, killing families and burning many alive.
The retaliation from Israel for the attacks has been unlike any previous conflict between the countries – with most of the Gaza Strip razed to the ground.
Two million Palestinians have been internally displaced in Gaza, and more than 17,500 children have lost one or both parents.
The brutal war has been ongoing for six months now, with no end in sight as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aims to reach Rafah.
Since the beginning of the war, the UK has seen mass protests for both a ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages.
