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Ministers are set to provide law enforcement additional powers to address ongoing protests, specifically aimed on taking action against Middle East demonstrations, according to the Home Office.

Recent Arrests and Planned Modifications

This announcement follows just after almost five hundred people were arrested in London for expressing support for Palestine Action, a prohibited entity. The new measures could allow police to instruct regular protests to be relocated to alternative sites.

Shabana Mahmood, is also set to examine all anti-protest laws, with the possibility to enhance authorities to prohibit certain protests outright.

Planned Legislative Changes

As part of these measures, Mahmood will implement rapid amendments to the existing public order legislation, enabling police to take into account the "combined effect" of repeated protests. Specific details will be released "in due course", according to the statement.

Should a demonstration has resulted in what officials called "repeated disorder" at the same location for several weeks, authorities would have the power to require protest leaders to move the gathering to another location, with participants who fail to comply facing detention.

Broader Review and Public Security

Mahmood added that she would "examine existing legislation to ensure that powers are adequate and being consistently applied", including law enforcement authorities to prohibit some protests entirely.

"The freedom to demonstrate is a basic right in our nation. Nevertheless, this right must be weighed with the right of their neighbours to live their lives without fear," the Home Secretary said.

"Frequent, sizable demonstrations can cause sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated and fearful of going out. This has been especially noticeable in regarding the significant anxiety within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to me on numerous instances during these recent difficult days."

"These measures mark an important step in ensuring we protect the freedom to demonstrate while making certain all feel safe in this country."

Current Situation and Police Response

The broader powers seem aimed at both mass Gaza-support protests, which occurred in London and various urban centers over a series of weeks, and those held to back Palestine Action.

Recently, police arrested about five hundred individuals at the latest such protest. This gathering took place even though government officials, among them political leaders, requesting that it be delayed following the recent tragic incident on a Jewish place of worship in the northern city.

Law Enforcement Viewpoint

Following the recent demonstration, the chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation stated that police personnel policing protests in the capital were "emotionally and physically exhausted".

"Enough is enough. Our focus should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on increased security from a security threat. Yet police are being drawn in to manage these continuous demonstrations," the federation chair said.

Additional Legal Actions

These changes follow protest-related provisions in the public safety legislation currently under parliamentary consideration, which prohibits the carrying of face coverings or pyrotechnics at demonstrations, and makes illegal the scaling of certain memorial structures.