'Underground cell' says it damaged car of Elbit Israeli weapons firm employee in UK

A pro-Palestine "underground cell" in the UK has claimed responsibility for damaging a car allegedly belonging to a senior employee of Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems.

The previously unknown "Lynx Lair" group said in a statement shared with The New Arab that it had covered a vehicle in paint and paint stripper.

The group separately said the incident took place sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning in Bristol, a city in southwest England where Elbit UK operates a facility.

The Lynx Lair's statement, which ended with a pro-Palestine slogan, said that the incident was the "beginning of our campaign".

The group, which described itself as an underground cell, named the person whose car it said was targeted, providing a job title.

The New Arab was unable to reach the individual allegedly impacted for comment. This news outlet has decided not to publish their name.

The local Avon and Somerset police service confirmed that it was investigating an incident of paint being thrown over a car in Bristol between 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Monday, 4 September and 07:00 (06:00 GMT) the following morning.

The address matched one that had been provided to The New Arab concerning the alleged targeting of an Elbit employee's car.

"The incident is being treated as criminal damage," the police service said.

Police asked anyone with information to ring the 101 non-emergency line with the reference number 5223214859 or to contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on +44 (0)800 55511 or online via crimestoppers-uk.org.

Police said that Crimestoppers never asks people to provide their names nor traces their calls.

The New Arab contacted Elbit Systems UK for comment but did not receive a response before publication.