ACTIVISTS continued their occupation today of a factory involved in supplying materials for Israeli fighter jets and the deadly cladding used on Grenfell Tower.

Members of the Palestine Action group began the occupation of Arconic’s Birmingham site on Monday.

One individual, who had chained gates shut, was arrested on Monday afternoon, while two remained on the roof. 

The group said it had shut down the site in solidarity with the people of Grenfell on the fourth anniversary of the deadly fire, which killed 72 people, as well as the Palestinian people. 

Evidence to the inquiry into the disaster has revealed that Arconic knew its cladding products, blamed for the deadly fire at the west London tower block, were not safe but continued to sell them. The firm also produces metal sheets that go to the manufacture of military aircraft as used by the Israeli military in its latest assault on Gaza.

Palestine Action said the protest highlighted the “direct connections between the neglect and corporate manslaughter of Grenfell and the repression and mass murder in Gaza, both of which are fuelled by the same criminal global supply chain.”

Hundreds of residents gathered at the factory gates on Monday to protest against the site, blocking off the road.