TRADE unionists branded the Palestine Action ban a “significant abuse” of counterterror powers and the “heavy-handed" mass arrests of pensioners protesting against it an “absolute disgrace” at TUC Congress today.

Delegates unanimously backed calls for the “authoritarian” proscription to be repealed and for the arrest of the Israeli President Isaac Herzog at Downing Street.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede accused the PM Sir Keir Starmer of “cowardice” as 60 MPs and peers urged ministers to deny him entry to Britain to avoid the risk of being complicit in genocide in Gaza.

The visit came a day after Israel’s strike on senior Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital Doha and warning to all residents of Gaza City to leave immediately in anticipation of a huge ground offensive.

The attack on the US ally drew widespread international condemnation and risked derailing efforts to end the war in Gaza.

Moving the motion, Mr Kebede said: “This motion seeks to give the Palestinian more than hope, it’s aim is to directly try to disrupt the barbarism, the nightmare that has been unleashed upon the Gazan people.

“Do not insult us by calling this a humanitarian crisis ... this is a genocide in plain sight.

“British doctors ... tell us of wounded children carried into hospitals day after day — one day every wound in the head, the next day every wound in the stomach, the next day every wound in the genitals.

“This is not the chaos of war. This is deliberate — the deliberate targeting of children.”

He warned Sir Keir directly that history “will not forgive our cowardice.”

Seconding, Unison's Micaela Tracey-Ramos said: “Despite ongoing International Court of Justice cases, the Israeli president is set to visit London and meet government ministers.

“This is a man who has said all Palestinians are responsible for the events in October 7 and signed his name on missiles that were then used to kill innocent Palestinians in Gaza.

“He should not receive any welcome in Britain, but be arrested for crimes against humanity.”

Unite's Sarah Carpenter called for the seizure of Israeli assets in Britain, as “London must not be used as a laundering hub by the Netanyahu regime and his supporters.”

Public and Commercial Services union president Martin Cavanagh said: “UK government’s proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 is not just a legal manoeuvre, it’s a political attack with profound implications for our rights, our members and our democracy.

“Since the proscription it is clear that the policing has been particularly heavy-handed, on the August 10 in Parliament Square 522 people were arrested — the single largest mass arrest in UK protest history, that was until last weekend when 890 people were arrested for peacefully holding signs or wearing T-shirts.

“The vast majority of those arrested have been pensioners. The sight of five, six, seven police officers manhandling and carrying people as old as 80 or 90 away from peaceful protests is an absolute disgrace to this country.

“We believe this proscription represents a significant abuse of counter terrorist powers and a direct attack on our right to protest against the genocidal Israeli regime.”

The motion called to “repeal the authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action under counter-terrorism laws and uphold and strengthen the right to peaceful protest following the arrest of activists, including Ben Jamal, on peaceful Palestine Solidarity Campaign marches.”

Mr Jamal, Stop the War’s Chris Nineham and Alex Kenny, and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s Sophie Bolt all face trial for alleged public order offences linked with the national march for Palestine on January 18.

A spokeswoman for Defend Our Juries, which has been organising the protests against the Palestine Action proscription, welcomed the “hugely significant” TUC vote.

She said: “The government should listen to trade unions and 5.5 million workers they represent, as well as the countless vicars, protests, war veterans, retired doctors, nurses and teachers and Holocaust survivors and their descendants being rounded up by police.

“This is Labour’s poll tax moment.”

Sir Keir dismissed calls to shun diplomacy as “the politics of students” before hosting President Herzog at Number 10 today.