A man has been captured on a smart phone allegedly writing 'colonisers' on the posters of kidnapped Israelis taken hostage by Hamas.

A women recorded a man allegedly defacing the posters of Israeli victims in West End Lane, West Hampstead on Tuesday (October 17) which was posted by @antisemitism on social media site X (formerly Twitter).

The Palestinian militant group Hamas sent fighters across the border into Israel and fired thousands of rockets in an unprecedented strike on October 7, which also saw a music festival targeted.

More than 1,000 Israelis were murdered and some 150 hostages taken into Gaza.

The Israeli state government retaliated the following day with an air strike on Gaza, killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians.

In a video posted on X, a woman can be heard shouting 'stop' as a man in a high vis jacket appears to write on the posters in marker pen.

The man's jacket appears to have the logo Carlisle Support Services, a company which provides cleaning and events services.

They can be heard saying "Why are you writing coloniser on an innocent two-year-old girl" and "please stop it".

@antisemitism wrote: "The incident took place this morning on West End Lane in West Hampstead.

"If you have further information about him, please e-mail contact@antisemitism.org".

@CarlisleSupServ responded to @antisemitic on X.

They said:  "We do not tolerate such behaviour and are dealing with the incident accordingly, with the relevant authorities also notified."

A Met spokesperson said: "We are aware of a video posted on social media allegedly showing a man defacing posters in #WestHampstead.

"Officers are assessing the footage and an investigation is ongoing."

Any witnesses should call 101 ref CAD 2578/17 Oct.

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