Pro-Palestine protesters blocked a fire engine responding to an emergency as they swarmed the roads of south London.

The vehicle, which had its sirens on, was forced to change route after Youth Demand demonstrators refused to end their roadblock in Elephant and Castle on Saturday at around 12.30pm.

The group, which was demanding a trade embargo on Israel and investment in communities most affected by the use of fossil fuels, had five of its protesters arrested.

Footage shows the vehicle struggling to pass through the traffic as around 50 demonstrators, who continued to chant and bang their drum, blocked the roundabout next to the Tube stations.

The fire engine was trapped between other vehicles also stuck in the disruption until the police arrived to intervene.

Eventually, a bus moved out of the way to allow space for the fire engine, which was then able to travel along St George’s Road as it was free from disruption.

‘I feel a duty to take to the streets’

Mia Hinds, an A-level student from Exeter, who took part in the protest, said: “I am taking action with Youth Demand because I cannot sit by and watch two genocides happen on livestream: the genocide of the Palestinians and the global genocide of the climate crisis.

“As a young person, I feel so much rage about government complicity and I feel a duty to take to the streets.”

Youth Demand said it ended the blockade at around 1.20pm, with one protester arrested for breach of Section 7 of the Public Order Act and four more arrested as the crowds dispersed.

It hit out at the arrests on X, accusing the British state of “continu[ing] to protect war criminals and arrest ordinary people of conscience”.

The group, which has been called “Just Stop Oil 2.0,” added that it “will continue to take necessary and proportionate action put an end to UK complicity in genocide”.

Pelted with eggs

On Friday, Youth Demand members were pelted with eggs while blocking traffic on Farringdon Road.

The road protests come after David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, was targeted by Youth Demand activists at his home in north London.

Two female protesters placed child-sized body bags at his doorstep and displayed a sign over his hedge that read “Lammy Stop Army Genocide” on Tuesday morning.

The Government’s position is that Israel’s actions in Gaza are at a clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law.