Palestine Action Faces Terrorism Designation After RAF Base Attack

The Home Office is proposing to proscribe Palestine Action, a pro-Palestine activist group, as a terrorist organization. This follows the group's recent actions, including an incident where they spray-painted military planes at an RAF base in Oxfordshire.

Palestine Action was founded in 2020 and has been conducting direct action protests for the past five years. Their primary targets have been arms manufacturers operating in the UK that sell weapons to Israel. If proscribed, it would become illegal to be a member of the group or to support it.

The group's activities have included breaking into and spray-painting the UK headquarters of Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense contractor. Elbit Systems is a major supplier of weapons and equipment to the Israeli military. Palestine Action has also targeted Elbit-owned sites across the UK, including factories and other facilities.

In May 2021, members of the group climbed onto the roof of an Elbit-owned drone factory in Leicester. They have also occupied sites in Bristol, Oldham, and Tamworth. More recently, in April 2024, they targeted Somerset County Hall with red paint due to the local authority leasing a building to Elbit.

In March 2025, the group damaged a building near Bristol, and in June 2025, they damaged two planes at RAF Brize Norton. Palestine Action stated that their actions were aimed at disrupting Britain's involvement in military operations in the Middle East, specifically those related to the conflict in Gaza.