Pro-Palestinian protesters blockade UK defence giant's factory over Gaza war
Protesters say their aim is to shut down the factory "which provides components for military aircraft used by Israel in Gaza bombardment of Gaza".
Demonstrators brandished banners and placards on Friday reading "no business as usual" and "taxpayers have blood on their hands" outside the gates of the BAE Systems factory in Rochester.. / Photo: Reuters
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters have blocked the entrances to a BAE Systems factory in southeast England, targeting Britain's biggest military supplier to call for an end to arms sales to Israel.
Holding up a sign saying "Stop Arming Israel" and waving Palestinian flags, about 50 people stood in front of one entrance at the Rochester site on Friday, where BAE tests and assembles electronic equipment used on military aircraft and in surveillance systems.
Tens of protesters gathered at other entrances.
Organisers said they were aiming to shut down the factory "which provides components for military aircraft currently being used by Israeli forces in the bombardment of Gaza".
They said it was part of an "international day of action for Palestine" organised in response to a call by Palestinian trade unionists.
BAE said it does not directly export any equipment to Israel, but the group is a tier-one supplier on the United States-made F-35 fighter jets which are flown by Israel.
"We're horrified by the situation in Israel and Gaza and the devastating impact it's having on civilians in the region and we hope it can be resolved as soon as possible," a BAE spokesperson said, alluding to the war between Israel and Hamas.
"We respect everyone's right to protest peacefully. We operate under the tightest regulation and comply fully with all applicable defence export controls, which are subject to ongoing assessment."
The protest at the British facility follows action taken by unions in Belgium and Spain who have refused to handle shipments of military material over the war in Gaza.
Call for a full ceasefire
Since the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7 — in which Israel says 1,400 people were killed and 240 taken hostage — Israel has bombarded Gaza relentlessly and sent in ground troops.
The Palestinian territory's Health Ministry says more than 10,800 people have been killed in Gaza, many of them children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a ceasefire without the release of the hostages would mean "surrender to Hamas".
Aid organisations said on Thursday that a full ceasefire is needed to get help to civilians in Gaza wounded in Israeli bombardments, and to transport crucial aid to the 2.4 million people living in the besieged territory, one of the most densely populated in the world.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.