A pro-Palestine group projected the national flag on to the Houses of Parliament yesterday, calling for an end to the bloodshed in Gaza.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) projected the flag, complete with slogans including “Free Palestine,” “Sanctions Now” and “Stop the massacre,” in a bid to put pressure on the government to take action.

The stunt came in the early hours after a joint announcement by the United States and United Nations of a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

So far the death toll in the latest conflict has totalled at least 1,441 Palestinians, many of them civilians according to Gaza health officials, and 56 soldiers and two civilians on the Israeli side.

Hugh Lanning, chairman of PSC, said: “It is an outrage that the British government is standing by whilst Israel slaughters Palestinians.

“The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has failed to listen to the voices of hundreds and thousands of British people who have taken to the streets. He has failed to stand up for an occupied people being ruthlessly murdered by an occupying power.”