ACTIVISTS from Palestine Action forcibly broke into a drone factory owned by Elbit Systems today, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.

One activist in a lorry smashed through the fence of a UAV Tactical Systems factory in Leicester, with two others on top of the vehicle.

Another protester scaled the building and occupied the factory’s roof, with red paint sprayed across the building symbolising spilt Palestinian blood.

Ahead of the action, one of the activists said: “This country is a signatory to the Geneva Convention. These laws are not to be discounted just because it’s politically expedient. 

“I cannot accept that the country I was born in and have lived in all my life is deciding to flout those laws.”

Another said: “If the government isn’t going to act, it is my personal, moral and legal right to take direct action.”

UAV Tactical Systems is majority-owned by Elbit Systems, which manufactures 85 per cent of Israel’s military drone fleet.

The Fire Brigades Union tweeted that it was aware of further Leicester protests and reiterated advice to firefighters to refuse to participate in law enforcement duties if asked, as they have been before, to help remove protesters.