HUNDREDS of activists blocked the Barclays headquarters in Canary Wharf today, protesting against the bank’s involvement in Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza.

The protest comes amid growing pressure for a permanent ceasefire as the Palestinian death toll exceeds over 27,000.

According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Barclays has invested over £1 billion in companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.

The campaigners say the bank also provides the firms with over £3bn in loans and underwriting.

Rallying in front of the bank’s headquarters, a coalition of protesters from London for a Free Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Queers for Palestine and Black Lives Matter told passers-by to close their bank accounts and “stop banking on apartheid.”

The group protested with a banner reading: “Are you sure you want to close your account? YES.”

They chanted: “Barclays, Barclays, you can’t hide, you’re enabling genocide” and “Your profits are covered in Palestinian blood!”

The London protest set the stage for a nationwide push by the PSC, which will rally Brits on Friday to shut down their accounts for good.

Protester Steve Carter who joined the blockade said: “We can all do our bit by boycotting banks that fund Israel’s genocidal attack on Palestinians.

“I started the process to close my account last week.”

General Dynamics, which produces the gun systems that arm the fighter jets used by Israel to bombard Gaza, is among the nine companies that Barclays provides services for.

Elbit Systems, which produces armoured drones, munitions and artillery weapons used by the Israeli military, also has links to the bank.

London For a Free Palestine activist Rebecca Rumford said: “British people cannot continue banking with Barclays as it actively funds the genocide on Palestinians.

“We ask everyone with a Barclays account to close it this February 9, until the bank cuts ties with Israel.”

PSC director Ben Jamal saluted the protesters for the Barclays action, saying: “Barclays is coming under increasing pressure for bankrolling Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians through its financial ties with arms companies supplying weapons to Israel.

“We say to Barclays — stop banking on apartheid, stop banking on genocide.”

This Saturday, PSC branches will spearhead another National Day of Action, organising marches and vigils nationwide.

More pickets in front of Barclays banks are also anticipated.

The following weekend, on February 17, there will be a mass march in London, as part of the Global Day of Action for Gaza.

Over 100 cities across 60 countries are expected to take part in the action.

A Stop the War Coalition spokesperson said: “To those who value human rights, justice and international solidarity, we implore you to stand with us.

“Organise protests in your city, at landmarks that symbolise the power to influence change.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Israel today to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials to discuss Hamas’s plans for a ceasefire.

Hamas says it will release all the remaining Israelis hostages if the Israeli government agrees to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including senior Hamas members, and end its genocidal bombardment of Gaza.

The proposal would leave Hamas in power in the Gaza Strip, which Mr Netanyahu’s far-right government has vowed to completely destroy.

US President Joe Biden said Hamas’s proposals were “a little over the top” but that the negotiations would continue.

Elsewhere, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned the EU’s top officials today not to withdraw support from the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).

In an open letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and others, HRW said: “The accusations against UNRWA staff are serious, and the UN appears to be taking them seriously.

“Should anyone be found to be responsible for criminal activities, they should be held accountable.

“Withholding funds from the agency, though, could have dangerous consequences, both immediately and longer term.

“Amid a desperate humanitarian situation, with people on the brink of famine, it is unconscionable to consider shutting down the UN agency most able to provide lifesaving food, water and medicine to the more than 2.3 million people of Gaza.”

Fighting continues in Khan Yunis between invading Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee and seek shelter further south in Rafah, which is already intensely overcrowded.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres expressed alarm today at reports that the Israeli army intends to attack the city on Egypt’s border, where thousands of displaced civilians are camped with nowhere to go.

“Such an action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,” Mr Guterres told the UN general assembly today.

“It is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.

“Nothing justifies the horrific terror attacks launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7. Nor is there any justification for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

“Yet Israeli military operations have resulted in destruction and death in Gaza at a scale and speed without parallel since I became secretary-general.”