Pro-Palestinian activists convicted of vandalism at Elbit Systems factory
Four of six British activists from the banned pro-Palestinian group were convicted of criminal damage related to a break-in at a factory operated by Israeli defense company Elbit Systems. The incident took place in 2024, during the armed conflict between Israel and Gaza that began in October 2023.
On Tuesday (May 5, 2026), Woolwich Crown Court in London found Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, guilty. Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were acquitted of the charges.
Background to the factory attack
Prosecutors alleged that the six defendants were members of Palestine Action, which organized the raid on the Elbit Systems facility in southwest England, specifically in Bristol, in August 2024. The attack caused damage estimated at about one million pounds sterling (roughly US$ 1.36 million). The event took place about ten months after the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Palestine Action was later designated a terrorist organization, although that decision was ruled unlawful by the High Court in London. Despite this, the group remains banned pending the government‘s appeal, which was heard the previous week.
Details of the convictions
Samuel Corner, one of the defendants, was convicted of seriously injuring a police officer with a hammer during the break-in. All the defendants admitted to damaging Israeli drones and military equipment inside Elbit’s research and development facility in Filton, Bristol, justifying their actions with the intention of “saving lives in Palestine,” as stated by their lawyers.
The defendants’ legal team issued a statement saying that “the defendants have already defeated the most serious charges” and that “they entered this trial with their heads held high, knowing that, regardless of the verdict, by destroying Israeli military drones, their actions likely saved lives in Palestine.”
Tuesday’s convictions follow an earlier trial in which all six defendants were acquitted of aggravated burglary, and the previous jury was unable to reach a verdict on the criminal damage charges. Prosecutors later dropped violent disorder charges against all the defendants.
The United Kingdom government proscribed Palestine Action in July, days after its activists broke into an air base in southern England. Elbit Systems is a defense technology company that employs about 20,000 people and has revenue of approximately US$ 2 billion, according to information on the company’s website.
