Nine people appeared in a London court on Friday to deny offenses including burglary, criminal damage, violent disorder and hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer, over an incident at a warehouse linked to Israeli defense firm Elbit.
The nine, who prosecutors have said were activists from the protest organization Palestine Action, are accused of smashing their way into the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August.
At a previous hearing, prosecutors said a repurposed prison van was used to smash through fencing before some of the group damaged items in the warehouse using sledgehammers.
Four men and five women, aged between 20 and 51, appeared by video link on Friday at London’s Old Bailey Court. All nine pleaded not guilty to aggravated burglary and causing criminal damage which has been estimated at 1 million British pounds ($1.2 million).
Seven of them also denied a charge of violent disorder, while one, Simon Corner, pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, for allegedly striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.
Another nine people also charged with offenses over the incident appeared at Friday’s hearing but did not enter pleas. The first trial involving eight of the defendants is due to start in November, with the others appearing at two subsequent trials.
A hearing will also be held to determine whether the cases should be treated as a terrorism matter.
Anti-Israel protesters have repeatedly targeted Elbit Systems UK and other defense firms in Britain linked to Israel in the wake of the conflict in Gaza sparked by the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.
Elbit Systems is run separately from its parent organization in Israel, and previously told the BBC that claims the facilities supply the Israeli military are “completely false.”
Palestine Action has said the targeted site was Elbit’s new 35 million pound ($43 million) research and development hub. Elbit’s website says its UK subsidiary employs 680 people at 16 sites, working on multiple programs for the British military.