News - Middle East: Protesters from Palestine Action have blocked the only entrance to the UK headquarters of Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer, in Bristol.

The group posted footage on X showing activists blockading the entrance to Guardtech, a subcontractor that it says provides “essential clean room services” to Instro Precision—a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms producer.

They covered the building’s entrance in red paint—symbolizing the blood shed by the Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip—while others scaled and occupied the rooftop.

Palestine Action said the protest “successfully halted operations” at the facility.

“Just a reminder—we, Palestine Action, we are not the terrorists,” one activist said in the video. “Elbit are the real terrorists.”

Elsewhere in Bristol, activists targeted another Elbit subsidiary, Aztec West, using a van and lock-on devices to blockade the site’s entrance.

The company said two individuals were “disrupting” its operations. Police later arrested a 30-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man, both of whom remain in custody.

Palestine Action says Elbit Systems UK is involved in the manufacture and supply of weapons to the Israeli military, amid the regime’s genocidal war on Gaza.

It says Instro Precision cannot operate without Guardtech’s services, which are used to maintain “controlled environments” necessary for producing radar kits and targeting systems.

These include high-precision electro-optical sensors that help Israeli forces identify and strike targets.

Earlier this year, Declassified UK reported that, according to cargo documents, Instro Precision has been exporting this equipment to Israel since the start of its war on Gaza in October 2023.

Tuesday’s protests come as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper moves to outlaw Palestine Action under counter-terrorism legislation. A draft order to proscribe the group was laid before Parliament this week.

MPs are expected to debate the legislation on Wednesday and Thursday. If approved, the ban could come into force by Friday—making it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, to be a member of or offer support to the direct action group.

Palestine Action says it plans to mount a legal challenge to the government’s move.

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