Eleven people were arrested at several pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in London on Wednesday.
Among them were five people arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred at a protest outside the office of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in north London, the Metropolitan Police said.
The force said the other arrests were made at student pro-Palestinian protests elsewhere in the capital, which were held despite calls for them to be postponed.
Wednesday marked three years since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken as hostages by the militant group.
Israel responded to the attack by launching a military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Footage from the demonstration outside the Board of Deputies’ Camden office showed a few dozen protesters, several of whom were wearing face coverings.
In a statement following the arrests, the Board of Deputies, the UK’s largest Jewish community group, said it “would not be threatened or intimidated” and thanked police for their “swift” response.
Slogans “calling for intifada” were chanted during the protest, according to the Met. The five arrested remain in custody.
The term intifada came into popular use during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987.
Jewish groups have described the term as a call for violence against Jewish people. Pro-Palestinian groups have said it is a call for peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation.
The Board of Deputies is set to hold a vigil in Richmond Terrace, near Whitehall in central London, later on Wednesday.
In a later statement, the Met said officers would remain on the ground in central London for the remainder of the afternoon.