Protest showing 'solidarity' with Palestinians to be held in Wigan

Named Stand in Solidarity with the Palestinians, it will begin at noon on Saturday outside Wigan and Leigh College.

The event has been organised following the re-escalation of tensions between Israel and Gaza, which began with surprise attacks by Hamas at the weekend.

It has provoked a major retaliation from Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration, with the Israeli government stopping the passage of food, water, fuel and medicine into the territory.

The conflict has already claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, with fears it could escalate further.

There are reports 17 UK nationals are either dead or missing, including children.

Both the UK and the US have been among those offering firm backing to Israel.

But organisers of the protest in Wigan are concerned about the impact the conflict is having on people living in Gaza.

They said: “Israel has ‘declared war’ on the Palestinian people in Gaza, cutting off power and food aid to the poorest and most densely populated area on the planet, and mobilising an army backed by high-tech weaponry to invade the territory.”

They referred to the many deaths in the conflicts since 1948, with Palestinians moving to the Gaza strip and West Bank, and said western governments were “falling over themselves in condemning the elected government in Gaza, Hamas, for resisting Israeli occupation”.

They concluded: "We will continue to call for a Palestinian state in which all people, Arabs and Jews, can live in peace.”