Activists Block Entry to Kent Arms Factory Making Drone Tech for Israel

A crowd of around 150 people blocked the entrances to a Kent weapons factory that supplies drone technology for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, preventing staff and trucks from entering the facility for several hours on Thursday morning.

The protest was planned by Arms Embargo From Below, a new organisation that describes itself as “a group of ordinary people who want to keep civilians safe from Israeli weapons”.

Protesters arrived at 7am and formed “a dense picket line of people at both gates”, a spokesperson for the group told Novara Media. “No trucks or workers have been able to get inside, putting it out of commission.”

The Instro Precision factory near Sandwich “makes equipment that powers lethal drone strikes in Palestine,” the group said in a statement. “Israel has killed at least 20,000 children in the Gaza Strip in the last two years,” it added. “Drone strikes are at the heart of this violence.”

Instro Precision builds imaging and targeting technology used in Israel’s Hermes 900 drone, the group said. “Israel continues to kill civilians, including children, in Lebanon and Syria and is attempting to illegally annex the West Bank,” it added.

“The UK government has increased its arms trade with Israel throughout this, and it is about to lift its limited ban on trading arms with Israel.”