At least 300 pro-Palestinian activists had gathered outside British Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street residence to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, who is due to arrive in the UK on Wednesday.

"We're here because we feel that Netanyahu should pay for his war crimes," said 21-year-old student Marion Tehami.

"We're here to protest and let him know that he's not welcome in our country."

Facing the pro-Palestinian protestors were at least 50 pro-Israeli demonstrators, many waving the Israeli flag. Police officers had to separate the two groups and took away at least two people following minor scuffles on both sides. They would not confirm how many people had been arrested.

Petition for war crime arrest

More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the arrest of Netanyahu for war crimes after last year's fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza - enough signatures for the issue to be considered for debate in Britain's parliament. But Israel's embassy in London has called the petition a "meaningless publicity stunt." Britain, meanwhile, has said that visiting heads of state had immunity from legal process and thus could not be arrested.

Last summer, Israel and Hamas militants fought a deadly 50-day war in Gaza which left more than 2,250 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians, and just over 70 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers. More than 500 children were among those who were killed in last year's conflict.

In a statement, the government said: "We recognize that the conflict in Gaza last year took a terrible toll."

"However the prime minister was clear on the UK's recognition of Israel's right to take proportionate action to defend itself, within the boundaries of international humanitarian law."

Two-state solution and trade

An official response to the online petition read that Britain was pushing for a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and would "reinforce this message to Mr. Netanyahu during his visit."

Britain is also one of a number of European countries which have been pushing for the separate labeling of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to allow consumers to make informed choices about the origin of their purchases and to make clear that certain products were made on occupied land, not in Israel. That move has angered Israel, which believes that Europe is applying double standards and sanctioning an important trade partner.

Netanyahu: Israel and Europe should be partners

Netanyahu's office declined say what would be on the agenda for the talks, although the topic of West Bank settlements and the deteriorating state of Gaza are likely to come up.

Ahead of his visit to Britain, the Israeli prime minister said that Europe should see his country as a partner in confronting the "medievalism" of militant Islam rather than criticizing it for its policy towards the Palestinians, adding that Israel, like Europe, was under threat from violent Islam.

"We're challenged by the opposite of modernity, which is a barbaric medievalism, early medievalism, primitive, savage, murderous, that comes from the two sources of militant Islam," he said, referring to Sunnis and Shiites.

"We are ready to work together with Europe, Africa and other places in order to fight extremist Islam. But this necessitates a change in attitude, and this change will take time. But we will bring it about," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu is expected to return to Israel on Friday.

ss/kms (AFP, Reuters)