Pro-Palestinian activists will hold a vigil tonight to mark Nakba Day and show solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Members of Waltham Forest Nakba Committee will gather in Walthamstow Town Square for the annual day which commemorates the displacement of the Palestinian people.

Nakba Day, which means ‘day of the catastrophe’ falls on May 15, the day after the Israeli Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.

On Monday, 58 people were killed in Gaza when Israeli troops shot at protesters as the US controversially opened its embassy in Jerusalem.

Chairman of Waltham Forest Palestinian Solidarity Committee Rada Daniell said: “We are expecting quite a large crowd and there will also be people going to the demonstration at 10 Downing Street.

“We will hear speeches, hand out flyers and display cut-outs of coffins representing those who have been killed.

“We want to raise awareness of the 70 years of dispossession of the Palestinians. They have been demonstrating for six weeks now in Gaza for their right to return.

“I know exactly what is happening to them - I spent six months in Gaza in 2010 and saw people killed. It is heart-breaking.

“It’s not a religious thing – it’s a human rights issue.”

The Nakba Committee is made up of a number of campaign groups in Waltham Forest including MEND, the Socialist Workers’ Party and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee.

The event which is being supported by Waltham Forest Trades Council will begin at 6pm.