Rush-hour route is blocked in clashes at Gaza demo

PRO-GAZA protesters clashed with police outside a building in London where a retired Israeli colonel was due to make a speech.

About 100 people gathered outside the Jewish London Student Centre opposite Euston station.

Metropolitan Police were forced to close Euston Road at rush hour as they attempted to deal with last night's disturbance. Security on the door would not confirm the colonel was speaking at the invitation-only event.

Several protesters who had blocked the pavement were dragged away by police and four demonstrators were later arrested for public order offences.

A protester holding a "Free Palestine" placard scaled the building and ignored police demands for him to climb down. A police officer later addressd the protesters with a loud hailer, saying the meeting had been cancelled and Colonel Geva Rapp would not be attending.

Police then formed a cordon and surrounded the remaining protesters, clearing the area outside the building.

The protester who scaled the building and banged on the first-floor window, later climbed down and was led away by police.

Demonstration organiser Stewart Halforty, from the Stop The War Coalition, said the demonstration was a victory. He said: "We found out that Colonel Geva Rapp was speaking from a leaked email so we assembled as many people as we could.

"Given the short notice, the number of people who attended was good and we achieved getting the meeting cancelled, or at least rescheduled. It was a high-profile demonstration that could be seen by commuters from Euston station and we've got our message across."

By 7.45pm nearly all the protesters had left the area and Euston Road was reopened to traffic. The Metropolitan Police said they estimated that between 80 and 100 demonstrators attended the protest.

No one from the Jewish Student Centre was available for comment.

The demonstration took place on the day the UN launched a $613 million appeal to help Palestinians recover from Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza.

However, more than two dozen trucks loaded with food, aid and goods intended for the Gaza Strip were stranded on the Egyptian side of the border today, raising questions about whether new aid will have much effect until there is a deal to open the devastated territory's borders. John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza, said: "The ordinary people here are not getting enough help and are not getting it quickly enough."

He blamed the aid shortage on the lack of access to Gaza and demanded that the border crossings be opened.

He added: "That aid should be right here, right now, helping the people who need it."