Sheffield group Stop Arming Israel says its activists early this morning (22 July) blockaded weapons parts manufacturer Forged Solutions in the Meadowhall industrial area. They plan to remain until 10am and expect this to result in the factory being shut down for the second time in a week, after a previous blockade on 16 July.

The Forged Solutions Group produces engine parts for the F-35 fighter jets that have been used in Israeli attacks in Gaza as well as Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria. The company boasts on its website that it provides parts for “tanks and submarines” as well as military jets. In June, some 500 people travelled from across the country to protest at the site.

“Forged Solutions has a long history of supplying parts to companies like Pratt and Whitney and Safran Aero Booster which go on to make engines for fighter jets like the F-35, F-16 and F-15”, said the group in a press release. “Whilst the British Establishment continues to support the Zionist occupation and criminalise resistance to genocide, Stop Arming Israel stands firmly with the Palestinians by disrupting the supply of weapons and death”.

According to one of the participants, “We have lobbied the council and the mayoral authority countless times about the city’s complicity in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. The most effective action we can take is to directly halt the activities of this factory and disrupt the supply chain”.