In a dramatic act of pro-Palestinian civil disobedience, a group of campaigners from the activist collective “People Against Genocide” has carried out a targeted occupation of an Israeli arms manufacturer’s facility in Leicester, United Kingdom. The action, which unfolded on the morning of April 24, 2026, targeted a site operated by UAV Tactical Systems, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems UK — the British branch of Israel’s largest defense contractor.
According to on-the-ground reporting from independent media outlet The Aftershock, the group bypassed high-security perimeter defenses first: activists climbed over reinforced razor-wire fencing using ladders to access the factory grounds before moving to secure the building’s roof. Once on the roof, the team drilled access holes and abseiled down into the facility’s interior, breaking through a ceiling to enter the production floor.
Circulated social media footage confirms the breach, showing activists entering the restricted clean room space that local reports confirm is used to manufacture components for Israeli military drones. The Aftershock’s reporting notes that the introduction of external contaminants to the tightly controlled clean room environment could render the entire production space inoperable for as long as several months, a major disruption to the site’s output.
One participating activist spoke publicly about the motivation behind the action, emphasizing widespread anger over the British government’s ongoing diplomatic and logistical support for Israeli military operations in Gaza. “We are sick and tired of our government’s collaboration in this genocide that Israel is committing on the Palestinian people,” the activist said. “We know that genocide has no place in this world – so that’s why we’re here to shut Elbit down.”
Elbit Systems holds an outsize role in Israel’s military infrastructure: the company supplies roughly 85 percent of all drones and land-based military equipment used by the Israeli Defense Forces, and has been identified as a key weapons supplier for Israel’s 2023–present military campaign in Gaza. Headquartered globally, the firm employs approximately 20,000 workers and posts annual revenues of around $2 billion, and has been a repeated target of pro-Palestinian direct action across the United Kingdom for years due to its deep military ties to Israel.
A 2025 report from Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestine, underscored the company’s financial stake in the ongoing conflict, noting that “for Israeli companies such as Elbit Systems… the ongoing genocide has been a profitable venture.” Beyond its work supplying Israel, Elbit’s UK subsidiary currently holds a £57 million contract with the British Ministry of Defense to run Project Vulcan, a simulation-based training program for UK tank crews, a contract secured in 2023.
This most recent action is part of a long-running campaign targeting Elbit’s British operations. In 2025, the UK government officially designated Palestine Action, another prominent direct action group that has repeatedly targeted Elbit subsidiary headquarters across the country, as a terrorist organization. Despite the ban, activism against Elbit’s UK presence has continued, driven by growing public opposition to British complicity in the Gaza crisis.