NORTHERN branches of Barclays Bank were left spattered with red paint and smashed windows today in protest at the company’s investments in arms firms supplying Israel.

Two banks — in Bradford in West Yorkshire and Bolton in Greater Manchester — were targeted by activists from Palestine Action, the direct action group who struck in the early hours of this morning.

Palestine Action said Barclays has investments in Israeli-owned Elbit Systems — its “primary target” for direct action — which has four factories in Britain and manufactures drones and pilotless warplanes used in Israel’s continuing genocide in Gaza, where the death toll now exceeds 36,000.