LONDON – UK police said they were probing vandalism incidents after a pro-Palestinian group appeared to claim attacks on properties belonging to executives and employees at defence industry firms. The group called “The List” claimed on a website to have been behind three attacks in recent weeks, including one on the home of someone who they said was a “key engineer” at defence contractor Leonardo.
“We are aware of an incident which targeted the property of a Leonardo employee last weekend,” a company spokesperson said in a statement sent to AFP yesterday.
“We are also assisting Counter Terrorism Police with their ongoing investigation into this incident,” they added. Police Scotland confirmed officers were called on 11 October to a “report of vandalism to a property and cars” in Dunfermline, north of Edinburgh, where Leonardo has a site.
A video on the group’s website appears to show an individual tagging vehicles and the walls of a building with red paint. The Sunday Times reported that The List had targeted three locations, including in Hampshire in southern England, where they reportedly slashed the tyres of a car belonging to an executive at Ultra Intelligence & Communications.
The List claimed on its website to have targeted the chief operating officer of Ultra, which it accused of working with Israeli arms company Elbit.
“We were called on Saturday, 10 October, to a report of a criminal damage incident in Fleet,” Hampshire police said in a statement quoted by the Times.
“It was reported that red paint had been thrown across the front of the house and two car tyres had been damaged,” the police force added.
The group also said it targeted the home of the director of technology manufacturing firm Keysight.
The Palestine Action group was proscribed as a “terrorist” organisation by the UK government last year after a series of attacks targeting defence companies, including Elbit and Leonardo. On its website, The List said it “escalated our actions against the home addresses of some of the most highly complicit companies in the ongoing genocide of our brothers and sisters in Palestine.”
“Our list of complicit actors remains long, compiled through leaks, hacking and whistleblowers. If you work with Elbit, expect us,” the group added.
Launched in retaliation for Hamas’s deadly 7 October, 2023 attacks, Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 74 000 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Israel has repeatedly denied accusations of genocide.
– Nampa/AFP
The post UK defence bosses’ homes targeted by pro Palestinian group appeared first on New Era.