'Race against time to save Gaza': UK activists disrupt London Marathon to protest Israel arms sales

Two activists disrupted the London Marathon on Sunday morning to draw urgent attention to the unfolding famine and genocide in Gaza, as Israel’s siege pushes the territory deeper into mass starvation.

According to a report by London’s LBC, the activists - named as Willow Holland, 18, from Bristol, and Cristy North, a live-in carer from Nottingham - jumped the barriers at Tower Bridge around 10:30am, throwing red powder paint and wearing t-shirts reading "Stop Arming Israel".

The pair sat down in front of the men's elite runners, momentarily halting the race before they were quickly removed and arrested by City of London police.

The action was organised by Youth Demand, a campaign group connected to Just Stop Oil, who said in a statement that the protest aimed to highlight the "race against time to save Gaza", where over 61,700 Palestinians have been killed and more than a million face catastrophic hunger due to Israel’s blockade and bombardment.

"We will not stand by while Gaza is starved to death," the group said. "Children are dying of hunger today, right now, while governments like Britain continue to arm Israel."

Videos posted by Youth Demand show the activists throwing the red paint, a symbol of the bloodshed in Gaza, across the race route as runners crossed Tower Bridge.

Gaza, already devastated by nearly 19 months of nonstop Israeli attacks, is now grappling with a man-made famine. Aid organisations, including the World Food Programme, have warned that entire families are being starved into extinction, with food supplies deliberately blocked by Israel’s military siege.

Despite a brief truce agreed in January, Israel resumed its assault on Gaza two months later, collapsing ceasefire negotiations and intensifying a war that Palestinian and international rights groups increasingly describe as genocide.

Youth Demand said the London Marathon protest was meant to disrupt "business as usual" in Britain while Gaza's civilian population faces annihilation in full view of the world.

While footage shows runners quickly continuing the race, activists said the goal was to force urgent public awareness and break through political indifference.

The protest also comes amid rising calls across the UK and Europe for governments to halt arms exports to Israel and impose meaningful sanctions over war crimes and starvation policies in Gaza.

"This is not about disrupting sport for the sake of it," Youth Demand said. "It’s about disrupting complacency. Every minute wasted is another life lost in Gaza."