The Metropolitan Police are appealing for help identifying 15 people involved in an 80-strong pro-Palestinian convoy that blocked major roads in Tower Hamlets and across London on Saturday night.

Officers have released images of the 15 people they want to locate over offences committed along the route. 

The Met were made aware of around 80 cars flying Palestinian flags driving towards central London at 22:15. They reportedly set off from a car park on Hancock Road in Tower Hamlets, but the convoy was stopped in central London before it could reach the Israeli Embassy. 

The procession deliberately stopped to block traffic on the A13, and again at the Limehouse Link Tunnel. 

Police say this action caused: “not only disruption but danger to other road users”.

A police helicopter was deployed to assist Roads Policing Units in intercepting the convoy. The cars were held in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, and the police issued an order for all vehicles to disperse or face seizure. 

One vehicle was seized and 18 drivers were issued with fixed penalty notices for various road traffic offences. After inspections, officers issued nine prohibition notices to defective vehicles.

This is not the first pro-Palestinian convoy London has seen. Temporary Commander Karen Findlay, who oversaw the weekend’s policing operation, said that in the past convoys have passed through Jewish communities with participants shouting antisemitic abuse. 

She said: “As soon as the convoy was spotted, a plan was put in place quickly to ensure the convoy would not reach areas where its presence would inevitably cause alarm and intimidation.

“The public have been a great help in recent weeks when similar appeals have been made and I have no doubt they’ll continue to do the same.”

Officers monitored social media and other footage to locate images of people they believe were involved.

Police have asked anyone who can help identify the people in the images below to call 101 citing reference number 4237915/23 and the number in the bottom corner of the images. 

On the same day, separate local protests took place across the rest of the UK in support of Palestine.

Two people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian march in Lewisham. One was a 20-year-old woman allegedly holding an anti-semitic placard, and the other a 37-year-old man who allegedly attempted to obstruct her arrest.