LONDON (AP) — Dozens of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads leading to Britain’s busiest ferry port on Saturday, clogging traffic and disrupting travelers and cargo vehicles heading for France.
The U.K. government condemned the action, saying it went beyond peaceful protest.
The Port of Dover said Saturday morning that all traffic in and out was "stopped due to an ongoing public order incident," and police said they were “engaging with the protesters.”
Video posted on social media showed several dozen men in black, their faces covered, standing across a major road near the port. One clip showed demonstrators linking arms across a main road and shouting “stop the boats.”
Chris Vinson, a Conservative Party local councilor, said the protest appeared to be “illegal migration-related.”
“I’m not aware that there’s been any violence, although clearly, having the path of your vehicle blocked by men wearing black paramilitary gear and balaclavas is extremely intimidating,” he said.
The Labour Party government said “the right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but we condemn the behavior in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused.”
“We appreciate the frustration of those who have been impacted today," it said in a statement,
The National Highways agency said the protest blocked all routes to the port and caused a 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) traffic jam.
Police were later filmed following protesters towards Dover's railway station. P&O Ferries said just before midday that “access to the Port of Dover has now been restored.”
P&O, which runs services between Dover and Calais in France, said passengers who missed their ferry would be offered the next available crossing.
Dover, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of London, dealt with more than 9 million passengers and 2 million freight vehicles in 2025, according to the port’s website.
The town has been the site of previous anti-immigrant protests focused on migrants who cross the Channel from France in small boats. Successive U.K. governments have struggled to stop people — more than 40,000 last year — making the dangerous journey across one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The issue has been depicted as a crisis by politicians including Nigel Farage of hard-right party Reform UK. He branded the asylum seekers “an invasion” in a Friday speech.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government says stepped-up law enforcement cooperation between Britain and France has helped reduce the number of people making the crossing so far this year by more than 40% compared to 2025.
Mike Tapp, a Labour lawmaker who represents Dover in Parliament, criticized “idiots coming to Dover to cause disruption.”
“I bet if you asked any one of those ‘protesters’ they wouldn’t know small boat crossing are down by 40% and we are working hard to fix the mess,” he wrote on Facebook on Saturday. “Go home, enjoy your weekend/get a job.”
Protesters gather at Dover Priory train station after black-clad and masked demonstrators blocked roads during a protest, in Dover, England, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (Oscar Rihll/PA via AP)
FILE - A general view of the port of Dover with the coastguard station, top left, in Dover, England, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
Iran has accused the U.S. of attacking an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. did not immediately comment, and there was no sign of retaliation. The past week saw the first exchange of fire after a month of relative calm.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Israel has again condemned settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels accused Yemen's government of killing three people in attacks. Israeli strikes killed three people in southern Lebanon.
Here’s a look at the news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Iranian state TV said four U.S. missiles struck a tanker about six miles (10 kilometers) from Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil. It said there were no casualties.
The report did not provide evidence and did not include comment from Iranian officials. U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kharg Island been repeatedly targeted during the war, including U.S. strikes on military sites there in March. The latest report comes almost a week after the U.S. resumed strikes on Iranian targets following a monthlong pause, as fighting around the Strait of Hormuz has intensified.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel has again spoken out against Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, calling their behavior an “act of terror.”
Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Saturday referred to the settlers as “terrorists,” a word U.S. officials usually reserve for Palestinian militants. He was speaking to Palestinian American residents in the village of Turmus Ayya.
“If there are squatters that come in and put up their own flags and take possession of something that does not belong to them, if they burn a car, if they torch a mosque, if they go into someone’s home and vandalize it, paint graffiti on the walls, that’s a criminal act. But it extends beyond a criminal act. It’s an act of terror,” Huckabee said.
The ambassador last month spoke out sharply after weeks of unrest in the town of Qusra, where settlers surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the actions of a “handful of rioters” and the foreign ministry called the settlers’ actions “a disgrace.”
Netanyahu’s government, the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel’s history, has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels said government forces in western and southwestern Yemen killed at least three people. The attacks Friday in Hodeida and Taiz provinces came as Yemen’s military said it launched more than 15 airstrikes on the Houthis.
The Houthi authorities in Hodeida said a father and daughter were killed in an attack on their house in southern Jarahi district. In Taiz, shelling killed a man and wounded another, according to the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel.
Fighting has intensified recently along Yemen’s west coast near an important supply route.
Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed three people and wounded nearly two dozen in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Israel's army said it struck positions of the Hezbollah militant group late Friday in response to a drone launched toward Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The drone was intercepted and no soldiers were injured, it said.
In June, Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated framework deal under which Israeli forces are to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, but little progress has been made. Hezbollah has vehemently opposed the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel days after Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Israel invaded Lebanon and has since occupied a large swath of its south.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday called for the U.S. and Iran to return to the negotiating table. The comments came in separate phone calls with the foreign ministers of Bahrain and of Oman, which sits across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran.
Abdelatty urged prioritizing de-escalation, the Egyptian ministry said, and called for maintaining the safety of shipping through the strait, where traffic remains at reduced levels as Iran continues to assert control over the waterway.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
A general view of the school that was hit by a strike on Feb. 28, is seen in town of Minab in southern Iran, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A tern flies over commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman relaxes along the rocky shoreline as commercial vessels lie anchored off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A boy plays in wet sand as others swim and commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A boy plays with a toy truck on a beach along the Strait of Hormuz in Kuhestak, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man, woman and boy ride a motorcycle along the waterfront as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man rests at a waterfront shelter as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
