Pro-Palestine group blocks off entry to UK Israeli drone factory in response to Gaza killings

A pro-Palestine group has blockaded the entrance to an Israeli drone factory in the English county of Leicestershire, in response to Israel’s deadly airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, as the death toll in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza this week climbed to 21, activist group Palestine Action said that they had driven a car through the inner perimeter of UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS) and blockaded the only entrance to the site. 

It also said two activists used a lock-on device to maintain the blockade, stopping a delivery from entering the premises.

"Not willing to tolerate British complicity in these sort of abuses, two actionists retaliated, this morning, against the British roots of Israeli aerial domination over Palestinians," a statement from the group on the action read.

The blockade comes as part of a ten-day siege by the activist group on the factory.

Palestine Action organised the sit-in outside UAV Tactical Systems last week in a bid to it shut down. Hundreds of protesters joined, and dozens set up camp.

Leicestershire Police said on Tuesday that it had made 41 arrests in relation to the ten-day siege.

Monitors warned last week that police were using excessive forces on the protesters with mass arrests and forceful removal of tents.