Demonstrators have called for the UK to stop sending arms to the Middle East amid allegations Israel is committing genocide against its neighbours.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the October 7 attacks on the Jewish state that saw Hamas-led militants kill 1,200 people and take another 250 hostage.

But since then Israel has launched military operations on two fronts with intense bombing raids thought to have so far killed over 42,000 people.

European leaders, including Prime Minster Keir Starmer, have repeated calls for a ceasefire as mass evacuation orders in southern Lebanon and Gaza look set to worsen the humanitarian crisis in both countries.

On Saturday, County Durham Palestine Solidarity Campaign staged a peaceful protest on the historic Framwellgate Bridge in Durham City.

A spokesman for the group said: “Our message to the UK government is clear: stand up for international law, justice and peace, and stop arming Israel.”

Durham City MP Mary Kelly Foy said she voted for a ceasefire last year because of ‘the horrors taking place in Gaza and the real risk of a wider escalation in the region’.

She said: “I’ve long called for a suspension in arms exports, and I welcomed the announcement last month that some licenses had been suspended.

“I trust that the FCDO will ensure that any remaining licenses will be reviewed as the war escalates.

“As we approach the anniversary of the conflict, a ceasefire has never been more urgent.

“We need diplomacy and negotiation, not all an all-out war.”

As the anniversary of the October 7 attack looms, Israeli forces are poised to step up their operations as a military spokesperson declared a “new phase of the war” against Hamas.

On Sunday morning, Government cabinet minister Britain is working “in lockstep” with international allies on calls for Israel to exercise “restraint”.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said calls for “actions that lead towards a restrained political solution based on a ceasefire” were “unanimous” among the UK’s allies, as he took questions about conflict in the Middle East from broadcasters on Sunday morning.

From the Opposition, Conservative shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell claimed UK recognition of Palestine too early could “look like a reward” for Hamas’s attack on southern Israel one year on.

Mr Kyle told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “We are working in lockstep with our international allies.

“We can’t instruct Israel as a sovereign state to do anything, but as key allies we can advise them and the advice is very clear and it is unanimous from our international allies that we must exercise restraint.”

He added: “We are not giving operational instructions to Israel but it is very clear from the words that I am using and the Prime Minister is using, that actions that lead towards a restrained political solution based on a ceasefire … those outcomes do determine the actions that need to be taken that would lead towards it, and I think that speaks for itself.”

Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged rocket fire and airstrikes over recent months, and Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel late on Tuesday.

On evacuations, Mr Kyle pledged: “If the demand is there we will use whatever is needed, whether it’s more chartered flights or whether it’s the military.”

Meanwhile, the Government has backed police to take action against protesters who show support for Hezbollah, after one man was arrested for allegedly shouting support for the banned organisation during a march in central London.

Get more content including the stories that matter to your community from The Northern Echo with a £1 trial subscription for four weeks here.

Most read:

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the capital on Saturday, meeting counter-protests at several points on their route.

The Metropolitan Police arrested two people on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation, with one man held after allegedly shouting support for Hezbollah near a pro-Israel counter-demonstration, according to the force.

Another man was arrested on suspicion of wearing or displaying an article indicating support for Hamas, which is also a proscribed organisation, after he was allegedly spotted wearing a parachute, the Met said.