Shabana Mahmood 'disappointed' with protests over Israel's interception of GSF

The United Kingdom’s interior minister Shabana Mahmood has said she was “disappointed” that pro-Palestinian demonstrations went ahead on Thursday, just hours after a synagogue attack left two men dead.

Mahmood urged organisers to reconsider upcoming rallies, saying protestors should “step back” from plans to march this weekend. “I do think that carrying on in this way does feel un-British, it feels wrong,” she added.

Despite the appeal, a large demonstration took place in Manchester city centre on Thursday evening. Meanwhile in London, protesters rallied against the Israeli navy’s interception of a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, with clashes erupting between demonstrators and police on Whitehall.

According to the Metropolitan Police, 40 people were arrested during the unrest, including six accused of assaulting officers.

Home Secretary @ShabanaMahmood says those who protested against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the abduction of aid workers on the Sumud Flotilla yesterday lacked “humanity”.

It’s Shabana and her party that lack humanity for enabling Israel’s genocide.pic.twitter.com/BHvecXKFkS

— Dilly Hussain (@DillyHussain88) October 3, 2025

Speaking to Sky News, Mahmood said: "I was very disappointed to see those protests go ahead last night. I would have wanted those individuals to just take a step back. The issues that are driving those protests have been going on now for some time. They don't look like they're going to come to an end any day soon."

"I think some humanity could have been shown. I am disappointed that that humanity and solidarity wasn't shown to our Jewish community," she added.

She said that she had made sure that the police have all of the resources they need to ensure that they are able to police these protests as As we spoke about earlier, something like 40 arrests were made last night, and we will make sure that any protests that go ahead comply with the law, and where someone steps outside of the law of our land, they will be arrested. 

"To anybody who is thinking about going on a protest, what I would say is, imagine if that was you that has had a family member murdered on the holiest day in your faith," the UK minister said.