Police have warned students joining an October 7 pro-Palestinian march that they could be arrested if they fail to follow newly imposed conditions.
The protesters are due to assemble outside King’s College London on the Strand before travelling to University College London in Russell Square, Holborn, tomorrow.
Under restrictions introduced by the Metropolitan Police, demonstrators must gather at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by 12.30pm and follow a designated route to Russell Square. The protest is required to end by 2pm, after which participants must leave the area.
Participants have also been told not to wear face coverings that conceal their identity. Police said anyone breaching the conditions could be arrested.
The measures come after demands for the demonstration to be prohibited altogether, while police pledged to take a “robust” approach to an event taking place on what they described as “a day of mourning and a day of reflection”.
Student activists promoting the march online say they plan to “take to the street” to “demand an end to the Palestinian genocide”.
The protest is scheduled for the third anniversary of the attack in which Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people and seized 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 the event would take place on the third anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel and the beginning of the subsequent war in Gaza.
“This will be a day of mourning and reflection for many in London, and we recognise the profound concerns the event has created, particularly among Jewish communities,” he said.
Mr Harman said stringent conditions had been placed on the march to help officers manage the gathering and limit serious disruption.
“Anyone who breaches these conditions or commits offences should be under no illusion they will face arrest. We have zero tolerance for hate crime, and anyone chanting or displaying placards calling for intifada or promoting unlawful extremism will be arrested,” he added.
The senior officer had previously urged the estimated 300 students planning to attend to consider the distress the march could cause on such a significant date and to exercise their right to protest at another time.
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Jewish groups and senior politicians have also criticised the plans for the demonstration.
Mr Harman said the student march, a separate pro-Palestinian protest planned for Saturday, October 10, and the possibility of disorder before next week’s Holborn and St Pancras by-election could combine to “fuel further tensions” across London.
The Met said it was “making every effort” to identify the organisers behind the University of London Coalition, described as a shadowy group that has promoted the event. Officers are working with universities and other organisations as part of those efforts.
Addressing calls for the protest to be banned, Mr Harman said: “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 can’t be managed by 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
He also rejected claims on social media that police had banned other demonstrations, including a UKIP march in Tower Hamlets, saying those reports were inaccurate.
Mr Harman said officers had also been asked whether the student march itself was illegal, noting that Section 11 of the Public Order Act requires organisers to provide police with a name and address.
‘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.’