By Helen McArdle
A desperate mission to take humanitarian aid and carry doctors to Gaza was being prepared in Cyprus yesterday, as hundreds of thousands of people across the world staged massive demonstrations against the attacks on Gaza yesterday, and the Israelis warned they were set to escalate their actions.
The boat is expected to leave Larnaka in Cyprus later today. to sail across the Mediterranean to Gaza, delivering much-needed medical supplies and humanitarian aid. Sunday Herald foreign editor David Pratt is among the international observers witnessing the proceedings on board In Britain, violence flared in London and Edinburgh, and police said they expected to make scores of arrests.
An initially peaceful protest near the Israeli Embassy ended with a group of demonstrators hurling missiles and smashing windows on Kensington High Street. One police officer was knocked unconscious and two others received facial injuries.
In Edinburgh, three officers were injured after being attacked by a group of 60 protesters outside the US Consulate. In addition to around 300 shoes being hurled at the building, police reported being pelted with sticks, ski boots and paint.
Lothian and Borders Police said they were "extremely disappointed at the violent behaviour".
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers came under "sustained attack from a group of protesters who started trying to push over the barriers placed there to protect the embassy".
He said: "The barrier line put in place to protect the embassy was dismantled and a hard core of protesters threw missiles."
Extra officers were deployed but Turn to page 2 this group was then attacked by the "hard co re" of protesters, he added.
During the Hyde Park rally, actress Lauren Booth criticised her brother-in-law Tony Blair, saying his suggestions for a ceasefire in Gaza would condemn Palestinians to "a slow agonising death".
Celebrities including Brian Eno and Annie Lennox also spoke at the rally.
As heavy fighting continued in Gaza and Israeli forces dropped leaflets warning of an escalation in attacks on Gaza City, SNP health minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland stands ready to play its part in providing assistance to help those wounded in the attacks as part of a wider international response.
Writing in the Sunday Herald, she said: "The scale of the humanitarian crisis demands a co-ordinated international response, which Scotland can and should be part of."
Sturgeon said NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and NHS Lothian have told her of their willingness to respond "positively" to requests for assistance with medical casualties should this be needed.
In Gaza, meanwhile, both sides ignored calls to stop the conflict. An Israeli tank shell killed eight Palestinians in Jabalya and an air strike killed a woman in nearby Beit Lahiya.
The deaths, including those of several Palestinian gunmen, raised the Palestinian toll to at least 821, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. Thirteen Israelis have been killed: 10 soldiers and three civilians.
