Five arrested over pro-Palestine protests at Gal Gadot filming in UK

London: London police arrested five people for trying to disrupt the filming of a movie starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot, a statement said.

Gadot, star of “Wonder Woman” and in “Fast and Furious” is in London to film a new thriller “The Runner”. She has been criticised by pro-Palestinian groups for expressing her support of Israel since the Gaza war erupted in 2023.

Police said officers were deployed to a “filming location” in Westminster “to identify suspects wanted in connection with offences at previous film set protests and to deal with any new offences.”

The arrests were for blocking an access to a place of work. Police said in a statement posted on social media that two of the arrests were for previous protests and three for action carried out Wednesday.

“While we absolutely acknowledge the importance of peaceful protest, we have a duty to intervene where it crosses the line into serious disruption or criminality,” said Superintendent Neil Holyoak in the statement.

“I hope today’s operation shows we will not tolerate the harassment of or unlawful interference with those trying to go about their legitimate professional work in London,” the officer added.

Pro-Palestinian protesters also disrupted a Hollywood ceremony in March when Gadot’s star on the Walk of Fame was unveiled.

Earlier, UN expert Francesca Albanese at the Cannes Festival called for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza completely instead of allowing aid to trickly into the war-torn territory.

“They must lift the blockade,” the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories said.

The Israeli defence ministry said 107 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday, whereas the United Nations used to bring in 500 to 600 lorry-loads per day on average during a six-week ceasefire that broke down in March.

But Albanese said even that amount would not be enough, after UN agencies warned a two-month siege had left its population of more than two million people on the brink of famine.