PROTESTORS gathered outside Southampton’s WestQuay shopping centre yesterday as Israel continued its air assault on opponents in Gaza.

About 40 people chanted and held banners demanding an end to the bombing and killing as shoppers filed out of the centre in Above Bar.

Organiser Glyn Oliver from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said he wanted to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza and what he claimed were Israel “war crimes”.

He said it was important to recognise the Palestinians were “not just victims, they are humans”.

The protest, among others across the country, came amid mounting international concern over Israeli air strikes which have killed more than 350 Palestinians and left another 1,400 wounded.

Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak has promised a “war to the bitter end” to defeat the militant Hamas group which controls the Gaza Strip and resumed rocket-fire following the end of a six-month cease-fire.