Police have warned students planning to join a pro-Palestine march on October 7 that they could be arrested if they breach newly imposed conditions.
The demonstrators are due to set off from King’s College London in the Strand and finish at University College London in Russell Square, Holborn, tomorrow.
Under conditions set by the Metropolitan Police, participants must assemble in a designated area at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by 12.30pm before following a specified route to Russell Square. The rally must end by 2pm, at which point protesters will be required to disperse.
Participants must also avoid wearing face coverings that conceal their identities, with police warning anyone who breaches the conditions will be arrested.
The restrictions come after calls for the police to go further and seek a ban on the demonstration. Officers had previously vowed to take a ‘robust’ approach on what they described as ‘a day of mourning and a day of reflection’.
Student activists have promoted the demonstration on social media, saying they intend to ‘take to the street’ to ‘demand an end to the Palestinian genocide’.
The march is scheduled to take place on the third anniversary of the attack in which Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 civilians and took 251 hostages.
Pro-Palestine protesters gather outside King’s College London on October 7, 2025, the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Nova Festival in Israel
Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman, who oversees Met Operations, including public order policing, said: ‘This event is being held on the third anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel and the start of the ensuing conflict in Gaza.
‘This will be a day of mourning and reflection for many in London, and we know the serious concerns this event has caused, particularly among Jewish communities.
‘We have imposed stringent conditions on those taking part in this march. These will help us manage the event and minimise serious disruption.
‘Anyone who breaches these conditions or commits offences should be under no illusion that they will face arrest. We have zero tolerance for hate crime, and anyone who chants or displays placards calling for intifada or encouraging unlawful extremism will be arrested.’
Mr Harman had previously urged the estimated 300 students planning to attend to ‘reflect on the impact and distress it will cause on this very significant day, and exercise your right to protest on a different date’.
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Jewish organisations and senior politicians have also condemned the plans.
Mr Harman said the march, another pro-Palestinian protest planned for Saturday, October 10, and the possibility of disorder ahead of next week’s Holborn and St Pancras by-election could ‘fuel further tensions’ across London.
The Met said it was ‘making every effort’, working through universities and other organisations, to identify the organisers of the shadowy University of London Coalition, which is advertising the event.
Mr Harman added today: ‘We hear the calls for this event to be banned. The police cannot ban protests and can only ask the Home Secretary to do so if the risk of serious disorder is so high that it cannot be managed through conditions. That high bar is not met here.
Students marched from King’s College last year and stopped at various campuses along the way, calling for an end to genocide in Gaza
‘Comments on social media suggesting that we banned other protests, such as a UKIP march in Tower Hamlets, are incorrect.
‘We have also been asked whether the student march is illegal, as under Section 11 of the Public Order Act organisers must provide a name and address to police.
‘While we can identify the groups involved in organising the protest from their social media posts, we have not yet identified any specific individual prepared to accept that they are the organiser of this demonstration.
‘Under the law, the failure of an organiser to identify themselves does not mean that the specific legal criteria for a ban of a procession is met.
‘Once we have identified the organisers, we can consider offences under Section 11.
‘I would like to take this opportunity – again – to call on anyone intending to join this march to please reflect on the impact and distress it will cause on this very significant date, and exercise your right to protest on a different day.’
Education Secretary Lucy Powell previously said: ‘We certainly shouldn’t be doing anything other than marking those attacks on October 7 with deep mourning for those who lost their lives and those who were victims of that terrible Hamas attack.’
