Row breaks out after Palestinian flag is projected on to House of Commons...and controversial mayor raises it over council town hall again after it is STOLEN

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A pro-Palestine group projected the national flag on to the Houses of Parliament in London early this morning calling for an end to the bloodshed in Gaza.

The stunt was claimed by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which said it projected the flag, complete with slogans including 'Free Palestine', 'Sanctions Now' and 'Stop the massacre', in an attempt to put pressure on the British government to take action.

But their protest, which came in the early hours as America and the United Nations jointly announced a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, was condemned by British Jews, who called it 'offensive to the British public' and accused the PSC of being motivated by a 'hatred of Israel'.

Meanwhile an east London mayor raised the Palestinian flag above the town hall for the second time after the first one was allegedly stolen.

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Stunt: A Palestinian flag calling for 'Sanctions now' was projected onto the Houses of Parliament today

Tower Hamlets' Muslim mayor Lutfur Rahman sparked a storm of protest on Wednesday when he raised the flag above the town hall to 'show solidarity with Gaza'.

Police went to the civic offices yesterday but the flag had gone - the council said it had been 'ripped from the flagpole in an act of perceived vandalism' - so Mr Rahman, who is to face trial over allegations of voting fraud, raised another one. 

Today a Metropolitan Police spokesman said they had received an allegation of theft in relation to the flag and were investigating. 

So far the death toll of the latest conflict has reached at least 1,450 Palestinians, many of them civilians according to Gaza health officials, and 61 soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side.

Today Hugh Lanning, chairman of the PSC, said his group had projected the Palestinian flag onto the houses of Parliament because they were 'outraged' that the British government was 'standing by while Israel slaughters Palestinians.'

He said: '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.

'The Prime Minister has weakly accepted the US' political position, which is totally out of step with the mood of this country. It is time for firm action consistent with international law.' 

Controversy: A second Palestinian flag has been raised above Tower Hamlets town hall in East London after the first one (pictured) was ripped down yesterday - its Muslim mayor Lutfur Rahman called for a ceasefire

The PSC wants Mr Cameron to demand an end to the bloodshed in Gaza, and impose an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel.

Mr Lanning said: 'People are really angry that this injustice is continuing despite our ability as a nation to pressure Israel to end the attacks. 

'The Government must not delay in responding to the moral and public demands it faces.'

Board of Deputies Vice President Jonathan Arkush, vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the stunt was 'offensive to the British public'.

He told MailOnline: 'We don’t need to import conflicts in the Middle East to this country. We should instead be exporting values and efforts designed to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

'The PSC has once again shown itself to be an irrelevant and extremist pressure group. It appears to be motivated by nothing more than a hatred of Israel, the only democracy and true ally of the West in the Middle East.

'The PSC is silent on the rockets and tunnels of Hamas, an internationally proscribed terrorist organisation, but extremely vocal against Prime Minister David Cameron whose statements on the Gaza conflict have been measured, and constructive.' 

Tower Hamlets' Muslim mayor Lutfur Rahman, left, raised a second Palestinian flag above the town hall; while today's Westminster stunt follows the 1999 incident when an image of TV presenter Gail Porter was shown

Questions arose as to how the image came to be projected onto the landmark building.

A spokesman for the Houses of Parliament said usual protocol for anyone wishing to project an image onto the building is to apply in advance. 

'He said: 'Applications are considered by the Administration Committee, which is made up of MPs, but I am not aware of an advance application having been made in this case.'

A spokesman for Lambeth Borough Council, which governs the other side of the river from where the projection probably came, said: 'Lambeth council only issues a licence for projections after a public consultation, the granting of planning permission and approval of the building owners.

'No permission was applied for, or given, in this case.'

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said they had not aware of any complaints or security issues with regards to the flag's projection on Westminster, an incident which had echoes of the 1999 magazine stunt in which the naked image of television presenter, Gail Porter, was projected onto the building.

Pressure increased on the government to take action against Israel as local authorities around the country debated whether or not to follow the lead of Mr Rahman in Tower Hamlets.

Controversy raged after he raised the first flag in East London, with one critic saying: 'I don't want to see the flag of any foreign belligerent flying over the town hall that residents in Tower Hamlets pay for.'

The same flag was raised in Bradford, where the council is run by Labour, in Preston, and in West Dunbartonshire.

Birmingham's council decided not to accede to pressure to fly the flag, stating that it only flew a few standards including the Union flag, the city flag and the Royal standard.

Today Gaza officials said at least four Palestinians had been killed by Israeli tank fire nearly two hours after Israel and Hamas began observing a three-day ceasefire.

Health Ministry official, Ashraf al-Kidra, and Gaza police spokesman, Ayman Batniji, said 15 other Palestinians were wounded in the shelling east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

An Israeli army spokesman in Jerusalem said the military was looking into the incident, which came shortly after the 72-hour ceasefire began at 8am local time, 6am BST.