Hundreds of police are ready to halt clashes as a mass pro-Palestinian protest and counter-demonstration takes place in central London.
Under the Palestine Coalition banner, “tens of thousands” are expected to assemble on Piccadilly, in the vicinity of Green Park Station, from midday on Saturday to demand an end to “Israel’s siege of Gaza”.
They will set off at 1pm via Haymarket towards Whitehall where a rally will take place.
A rival protest, organised by Stop the Hate, takes place in Coventry Street, just off of Piccadilly Circus.
The Metropolitan Police have imposed conditions under the Public Order Act on both protests.
Over 70 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at a demonstration in central London in January for alleged breach of conditions.
There were eight arrests at a protest last month.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “The genocide in Gaza has not ended.
“It continues by other means - by blocking supplies which are essential to human life.
“Israel’s desire to ethnically cleanse and colonise Gaza has not disappeared, it remains a clear and present danger, which is now evident in the West Bank also.”
Stop the Hate UK dedicated their counter-protest to Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two young sons Ariel and Kfir - killed when they were snatched by Hamas gunmen during their murderous attack on southern Israel in October 2023.
Kfir, aged nine months, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was the youngest of the 251 hostages. His brother, Ariel, was just four.
They described the PSC’s demo as a “hate march” on social media.
On a weekend when tens of thousands of Newcastle United and Liverpool fans descend on the capital ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final at Wembley, officers will also have to deal with a demonstration against plans to build a new Chinese Embassy outside the Royal Mint at the north end of Tower Bridge.
Organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, the protest is expected to get underway at 3pm on Saturday.
