PALESTINE ACTION activists used a mechanical cherrypicker platform to attack the Bristol headquarters of Israeli-owned weapons manufacturer Elbit on Saturday.

With one activist locked inside the cab, three others on the platform sprayed the offices with red paint symbolising Palestinian blood and used a sledgehammer attached to a rope to smash windows.

Elbit Systems has five factories in Britain that are used for manufacturing drones, pilotless war planes and other weapons for Israel.

Palestine Action said that according to Israeli media, Elbit provides up to 80 per cent of the Israeli military’s land-based equipment and 85 per cent of its war drones.

The direct action group said: “Palestine Action first shut down the site on April 13 2021 with a rooftop occupation.

“Since then Elbit has been relentlessly targeted in high-profile actions with the clear aim of ending the British manufacture of weapons used in the genocide and occupation of Palestine.

“In the past week, Palestine Action has struck numerous times at Elbit’s insurers Allianz and Aviva and has rejected calls for ethnic cleansing by [US President] Donald Trump by wrecking his Ayrshire golf resort.”

A spokesperson added: “While Elbit weaponry is used for massacres in Gaza and the West Bank, 20 Palestine Action members, including the Filton 18, are imprisoned without trial.

“Elbit, [Prime Minister Sir Keir] Starmer and those facilitating war crimes are the criminals, not those taking action to stop the slaughter in Palestine.

“Activists are shutting down Elbit Bristol, making clear that we will not back down against a company whose sole purpose is to profit from the destruction of Palestinian life.”