UK activists occupy Israel weapons manufacturer's client

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Palestine Action have today occupying Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit System's client the Good Packing Company, who package, transport and export Israeli weapons battle tested on the Palestinian people.

Four activists scaled the company's rooftop in protest at its ties to the deadly arms manufacturer, especially as Palestinians in Gaza have spent three days under Israeli bombardment.

Activists dismantled the site's CCTV, struck out at windows with sledgehammers, and coated the site in paint, a statement from the group said. At the Elbit transport hub, site operations are halted and the flag is being flown. The company's website makes reference to specialising in "Ministry of Defence type packaging" and has been confirmed to provide shipping and military-grade packaging to Elbit. Included in this are the Hermes 450/900 drones, frequently used in Gaza, and produced (in part) in the same town.

Elbit combat drones account for a considerable 85 per cent of Israel's drone fleet. The Hermes 450 was pioneered by Elbit and has been used in attacks and surveillance in Gaza for years. "Their use ravages Gaza city, leaving Gazans with deep-seated trauma and anxieties from Israeli state-terror," Palestine Action said in its statement.

A Palestine Action spokesperson said: "No impunity for Israel, nor for anyone involved in the massacres we have all witnessed. If you work with Elbit, we're working against you too. When we know our own government won't do it, the onus is on us to enforce a people-backed arms embargo on the Israeli occupation, using direct action. It's crucial to remember that in Gaza, the economic blockade has stood for fifteen years – each year marked by deprivation and colonial warfare. Israel's violence is everyday life for the average Gazan, and so the time is always right to take direct action in Gaza's name, and cut military production in accomplice-Britain. We will unravel Britain's Israeli arms industry."

Israel has killed 44 Palestinians, including 15 children and four women, in the three days of its military campaign against Gaza. More than 360 Palestinians were injured.

Source: Middle East Monitor under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0