PALESTINE supporters presented a petition to Sheffield City Council today demanding that it “stand in unity and solidarity with Palestinians — in the same way as [it] did with the people of Ukraine.”

The petition, signed by more than 7,500 people, is one of dozens of actions continuing nationwide as protesters in London prepare to march on the US embassy on Saturday.

Sheffield Palestine Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid said they were asking the council to welcome South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which put Israel on trial for the crime of genocide in Gaza.

Supporters rallied outside Sheffield Town Hall as the petition was presented.

The coalition’s Jon Cowley said: “There is a huge democratic gulf between the majority of the British population, which opposes Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza, and our national political leadership.

“We believe our council has a moral obligation to stand with the people of Palestine, in line with the views of the vast majority of its citizens.”

A Peace and Justice Now Camp will be staged in Sheffield on International Women’s Day tomorrow in the city’s Peace Garden from 3pm to 8pm, and a health workers’ vigil will be staged at 6.30pm.

Students at Manchester Metropolitan University also demonstrated today to demand that the Barclays branch on the campus be evicted because of its billion-pound investment in arms firms supplying Israel with weapons.

A Palestine Solidarity Campaign statement said: “The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. 

“While bombs continue to fall, Palestinians are dying from hunger and dehydration caused by Israel’s siege.

“We will continue to march for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, for the lifting of the siege on Gaza, and for freedom for the Palestinian people.”