HUNDREDS of protesters marched through York city centre in a show of solidarity for the residents of Gaza as Israel stepped up its military bombardment of the area.

As the tanks moved in to Gaza over the weekend, York was just one of many towns and cities across the country where people met to call for an end to the violence.

The protest, which began in St Sampson’s Square, was organised by the York branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and more than 200 people gathered to wave Palestinian flags and hold banners.

Monica Wusteman, a member of the group’s national executive, joined Saturday’s march.

She said: “It went very well and we picked up a lot of people as we walked round the city.

“I am very pleased with the turnout, but York always does respond to these things very well. They seem to have a conscience about this sort of thing.”

Mrs Wusteman said people had gathered in York from all over Yorkshire.

Richard Hargreaves, of the Grassington and District Peace Group, said: “We show our concerns for things which have gone badly wrong in the world and we wanted to make a gesture today, so we brought a party of six people.”

Earlier last week, 30 members of York PSC organised a silent vigil to raise awareness of what they termed the “dreadful massacre” of a suffering Palestinian population. The chair of York PSC, Stephen Leah, said the attacks were part of a deliberate move by some politicians to win votes in the forthcoming Israeli elections.

The group is also asking its supporters to write to York MP Hugh Bayley, to demand that the Government puts pressure on Israel to stop its violence against Gaza.