UK drops aggravated burglary charges against 18 Palestine Action activists
UK prosecutors have dropped aggravated burglary charges against several Palestine Action activists accused of breaking into the site of Israeli military firm Elbit Systems in western England.
At a case management hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in south London on Wednesday, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the prosecution “offers no evidence on count one, aggravated burglary” for the 18 defendants after reconsidering the sufficiency of the evidence.
The 18 activists remain in custody, facing other charges, including criminal damage and, in some cases, violent disorder.
The decision follows the acquittal of six other Palestine Action activists on aggravated burglary charges, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Although they were cleared of aggravated burglary earlier this month, the jury could not reach verdicts on criminal damage charges against all six activists, who will now face a retrial over alleged damage and violence at the Elbit Systems military firm.
Aggravated burglary charges required the prosecution to prove that the defendants committed a break-in while in possession of a weapon intended to harm someone.
Palestine Action, which has campaigned against Elbit Systems UK—the country’s largest weapons manufacturer—has focused on the firm’s role in supplying arms to the Israeli military during its genocidal war on Gaza.
The organization says the charges against the activists are politically motivated, aimed at silencing opposition to UK government support for Israel.
Last week the High Court in the United Kingdom ruled that the government’s ban on Palestine Action as a “terror group” was unlawful and disproportionate.
The group was banned as a “terrorist organization” by the British government in 2025. Since the ban, hundreds of UK residents have been arrested for protesting against it, often holding placards reading, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
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