PM attends prayer service for Israeli victims – as 5,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally outside Israeli embassy

Rishi Sunak has attended a prayer service for Israel following an unprecedented attack by Hamas – as pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the Israeli embassy.

The prime minister made an address at a synagogue in north London – and said: “I wanted to come here and stand with you in this hour of grief as we mourn the victims of an utterly abhorrent act of terror.

“To stand with you in this hour of prayer as we think of those held hostage, and your friends and loved ones taking refuge in bomb shelters or risking their lives on the frontline.”

Mr Sunak went on to say that Hamas “are not militants, are not freedom fighters, they are terrorists”.

“Their barbaric acts are acts of evil… teenagers at a festival of peace gunned down in cold blood. Innocent men, women and children raped, abducted, slaughtered. Even a Holocaust survivor taken away as a captive.”

The PM went on to say there was “no question of balance” – and he stood with Israel.

In Westminster earlier, hundreds of people also attended a Jewish community vigil – with security minister Tom Tugendhat and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy among the speakers.

There were chants of “let our children go” by the crowd, and organisers claimed up to 2,000 people were in attendance. Many held photos of Noa Argamani, an Israeli woman who was kidnapped by Hamas militants.

Over in west London, an estimated 5,000 people gathered near the Israeli embassy in Kensington – with some shouting “Free Palestine” and “Israel is a terrorist state”.

Parts of the building were boarded up and a huge police presence was in attendance. A Palestinian flag was draped on top of a lamppost nearby, with a firework fired towards the embassy.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “We are aware of instances of suspected criminal damage in Kensington High Street.

“Officers are on scene, intervening and gathering evidence. We are actively seeking to locate and arrest those suspected of being involved in any criminal activity.”

Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of the groups behind the demonstration, said: “The offensive launched from Gaza can only be understood in the context of Israel’s ongoing, decades long, military occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land and imposition of a system of oppression that meets the legal definition of apartheid.

“This is the context in which we need to understand the cycle of violence. If violence is to end, both that of the oppressor and the oppressed, then we must all take action to end the root cause – Israeli apartheid and oppression of Palestinians.”

Israel under ‘huge’ rocket barrage – live updates

Police ‘step up patrols’

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has joined Metropolitan Police officers on a patrol in Golders Green – an area of north London with a prominent Jewish population.

It came hours after a kosher restaurant in the area had its window smashed and cash register stolen, while “Free Palestine” was graffitied on a nearby railway bridge.

The incident is being investigated as a potential hate crime by the British Transport Police, with local authorities describing it as a “deliberate attempt to intimidate the Jewish community”.

Earlier, Ms Braverman had urged police forces across England and Wales to step up patrols – as past unrest in the Middle East had been used “as an excuse to stir up hatred against British Jewish communities”.

She added: “The barbaric attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists who have massacred civilians and kidnapped the most vulnerable, including the elderly, women and children, is truly sickening.

“The UK stands unequivocally with Israel in her fight against this evil.”

Communities minister Lee Rowley has urged protesters not to attempt to glorify Hamas’s attack on Israel.

He told Sky News that Hamas has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK – and while there is a right to protest, there is not a right to glorify terrorism.

Rishi Sunak has hosted an emergency COBRA meeting on the ongoing situation in Israel and Gaza.

Read more:
Haunting messages left by Israelis taken hostage
How attack caught Israel off guard
What is Hamas, and why is it in conflict?

Number 10 has said it would be “utterly despicable” for anyone to use the events in the Middle East as a “pretext” to threaten or attack Jewish communities in Britain.

Greater Manchester Police has also deployed additional officers to key locations in a bid to step up the protection of communities and respond to any incidents.

Superintendent Rachael Harrison said: “This is an extremely worrying time for some of our communities and our thoughts are with those who are affected.

“We are doing everything we can to keep people safe and ensure they feel reassured by our presence.”

Grieving families have paid tribute to British nationals “murdered” in Israel over the weekend.

They have been named as Bernard Cowan, Danny Darlington and Nathanel Young.

More than 10 Britons are feared dead or missing in the country, Sky News understands.