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Police charge 63 over Gaza protests
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More than 60 people have been accused of committing crimes during angry protests against an Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
Scotland Yard said 63 people from across London as well as West Yorkshire and Surrey will face prosecution for public order offences and violence.
The charges were the result of an investigation into confrontations between police and demonstrators in central London in January.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said 63 people aged between 12 and 38 will appear at West London Magistrates' Court on October 29 and 30.
The majority of them come from across London, including Ealing, Acton, Croydon, Hendon and Tower Hamlets. Three men from outside London were also charged. Mosab al-Ani, 21, of Main Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire; Karim Bereksi, 21, of Frimley Road, Surrey and Jake Smith, 23, of Ivy Road, Southampton, were each charged with a public order offence.
Thousands of protesters travelled to London as Israeli forces carried out airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza. A series of demonstrations descended into violence with attacks on police and the vandalism of shops. The Met launched Operation Ute to identify those suspected of being responsible for the violence.
On January 3, about 2,000 people split from a lawful march of some 12,000 people between Embankment and Trafalgar Square. The spontaneous march travelled on to the Israeli Embassy in Kensington where a small number of people attacked police. Barriers were broken up and thrown at police ranks during a three-hour disturbance. A knife was later found embedded in an Embassy gatepost.
On January 10, a group of up to 20,000 people left Speakers' Corner for the Israeli Embassy. Police came under attack from a small number of protesters who tried to breach a secure gate at Kensington Palace Gardens.
Meanwhile, officers in front of the Embassy came under a sustained attack with metal barriers, sticks and stones hurled at police.
The windows of four shops were smashed and police vehicles were damaged. A branch of Starbucks was looted and items including coffee mugs thrown at police.
