A Barclays bank branch in Bolton has been left with smashed windows and covered in graffiti after being attacked by protesters.
Shattered glass littered the pavement outside the branch in Market Street on Monday morning, while red paint covered the building.
It is the latest incident to hit Barclays in recent months, which has joined a growing list of corporations who have found themselves targeted due to the Israel-Hamas war.
Companies ranging from Starbucks and McDonald’s to Google have also been targeted. On Friday, four people, aged between 20 and 37, were arrested after two Barclays branches were covered in red paint and graffiti in Manchester.
Protest group Palestine Action at the time said activists were responsible for the damage.
Protesters have long claimed that Barclays has deep links with the defence industry. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has claimed that Barclays has been funding the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
“Our research has identified Barclays as a major financier of companies arming Israel,” the group said in a research report.
“Barclays bank holds substantial financial ties with arms companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel, used in its attacks on Palestinians.”
According to the PSC, Barclays is “complicit” in Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s civilian population because it holds £1.6 billion worth of shares in, and provides £3 billion of loans to, military companies that make technology used in Israel’s Gaza operations.
