CLIMATE activists today targeted the London HQ of Israel’s largest private arms firm in protest at “brutal” attacks on al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli forces in recent days.  

Members of the youth branch of Extinction Rebellion teamed up with the Palestine Action group to blockade the entrance of Elbit Systems’ offices in Holborn on Wednesday morning. 

The groups said the action, which saw activists lock on to the entrance of the building at 77 Kingsway Road and hurl red paint across the facade, forced the offices to shut for the day. 

Palestine Action said the activists wanted to show solidarity with Palestinian worshippers during Ramadan after Israeli forces launched a series of raids on the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, injuring dozens of Palestinians. 

The group said that the young activists were responding to the brutal events in Palestine by targeting Israeli arms manufacturers in Britain, whose products have been “used against
worshippers and civilians,” over the last week. 

The action is part of an ongoing campaign to shut down Elbit factories and offices across Britain. 

The arms giant supplies around 85 per cent of the Israeli military’s drone fleet, which has been used extensively in Israel’s attacks on Gaza. 

Explaining their involvement in the action, Extinction Rebellion Youth said in a statement: “The illegal occupation and militarisation of territories, the colonisation and dispossession of local peoples such as Palestinians and the wider military-industrial complex is directly tied to the climate and ecological crisis.”