PEACE activists meeting in Cardiff agreed this week to found a Stop The War Cymru group to co-ordinate activities and campaigning in Wales.

The packed meeting in Unison’s Welsh HQ heard a range of speakers from dozens of organisations.

Peace activist Dominic MacAskill convened the meeting and said: “We want to reconnect the movement in Wales and work towards a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Stop the War national officer John Rees said the protests for peace in Gaza had snowballed since the first demonstration a month ago, with each getting bigger.

“We welcome the agreed pause in Israel’s onslaught, which is in part because of the international outrage,” Mr Rees said.

“It is now not just about mobilising people to protest, but holding debates like this so that people understand the politics and economics behind the issue of Palestine.”

Cynon Valley MP Beth Winter said: “We now desperately need to turn that pause into a permanent ceasefire.”

The campaign group member referred to the debate in the Labour Party and said: “There is something grotesque about a pause when the killing is resumed after their bellies are full.”

Palestinian Sam Alkarnaz, a Unison activist in Wales, spoke about the deaths in his family living in Gaza.

“I am told that I am stateless, but I was not born in Israel — I was born in Gaza in Palestine,” Mr Alkanaz said.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Betty Hunter said: “This is the moral issue of our time. We are seeing the callous slaughter of innocent people, which is ethnic cleansing bordering on genocide.

“This movement could be a historic turning point. The time for a boycott is now, and we have to make Israel a pariah state.”

Plaid Cymru’s Senedd member Mabon ap Gwynfor explained how the vote for a ceasefire was won in the Welsh Parliament in partnership with groups like Welsh Labour Grassroots to put pressure on MSs.

“I would deal with Hamas by investing in Gaza and the people of Palestine to create equality,” Mr ap Gwynfor said.

Unison president Libby Nolan said the trade union movement is not just about fighting for pay — “it is about international solidarity.”

Police asked for access to the meeting to "have a look around,"" but organisers declined the suspicious request.

Stop the War's John Rees told the Morning Star it was "astounding that the police attempted to come into the Cardiff Stop the War meeting. This was a meeting addressed both by a member of parliament and a member of the Welsh parliament.

"The organisers quite rightly refused. The police have no role to play in monitoring or intimidating a peaceful protest movement whose views reflect majority opinion."