TheBritish government will move to ban the activist group Palestine Action andproscribe it as a terrorist organisation, after two activists brokeinto the UK's largest airbase on Friday on electric scooters and damagedtwo Royal Air Force (RAF) planes.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will submit a statement beforeparliament on Monday which if passed will make it illegal to be a member of thegroup, the BBC reported.
Footage shared by Palestine Action purported to showtwo protesters riding scooters towards the RAF planes on the runway at theBrize Norton airbase, where they used "repurposed fire extinguishers tospray red paint into the turbine engines" and "caused further damageusing crowbars". The activists then evaded security and escaped the base.
The group announced on its website on Friday thatthe airbase was targeted because flights leave daily from there "for RAFAkrotiri in Cyprus, a base used for military operations in Gaza and across theMiddle East".
The British base on Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, is justa 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv.
From there, RAF Shadow aircraft have conducted hundredsof surveillance flights over Gaza throughout Israel's war on thePalestinian enclave.
A security review has begun at military bases acrossBritain, and South East counter terrorism police said its specialist officerswere investigating the incident with Thames Valley Police and the Ministry ofDefence (MoD).
Prime Minister Keir Starmer branded the action as"disgraceful" and an "act of vandalism".
Palestine Action said in a post on X that "we exposedBritain's direct involvement in the genocide, and how ordinary people can actto stop it.
"In response, the political establishment rush to callus "terrorists", whilst they enact the worst crimes against humanity.
"No amount of smears or intimidation tactics will waverour solidarity with Palestine."
Secrecy surrounding Gaza surveillance flights
The planes the activists damaged were Airbus Voyagers, whichcarry military cargo and refuel fighter jets and military aircraft.
In response to questions about its surveillance flights overGaza, the MoD has repeatedly insisted they are in support of "hostagerescue".
Earlier this year, Luke Pollard, minister for the armedforces, said during a debate that Britain "shares animportant, long-standing and broad strategic partnership with the state ofIsrael".
He said that surveillance flights over Gaza are "solelyin support of hostage rescue" and that information is passed on "onlyif we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with internationalhumanitarian law".
The MoD also said last year that it "would consider anyformal request from the International Criminal Court to provide informationrelating to investigations into war crimes".
However, there is significant secrecy surrounding much ofwhat the RAF Akrotiri airbase is used for.
Last month, MEE reported that the UK governmentblocked Labour MP Kim Johnson from asking about Israeli bombers using theCyprus airbase.
Palestine Action have carried out a series of high-profileactions during Israel's war on Gaza.
PA activists were arrested on terror chargesafter an action in August when activists drove a modified van intothe research and development hub of UK-based Israeli arms company, ElbitSystems, in Filton, Bristol. They are currently being held in remand.
