An Israeli arms manufacturer’s facility in Bristol, England, which was repeatedly targeted by Palestine Action appears to have closed unexpectedly.

The Elbit Systems UK site in the Aztec West business park was the subject of dozens of protests by Palestine Action, including on July 1st, days before the direct action group was banned under the Terrorism Act.

Elbit has held the lease since 2019 and it was not due to expire until 2029. The protests included blockades using lock-ons, occupying the roof, smashing windows and dousing the site in red paint.

Elbit Systems UK is a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, which is Israel’s largest arms producer. Elbit Systems, which had revenues of $6.8 billion (£5 billion) last year, describes itself as the “backbone” of the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF’s) drone fleet, which has been used extensively in the assault on Gaza.

Its portfolio also includes systems for military aircraft and helicopters, armed remote control boats, land vehicles, and for command and control.

Elbit Systems UK did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment about the status of the site. But the property, located within a commercial and industrial park on the outskirts of Bristol where the M5 and M4 meet, was deserted when the Guardian visited this week.

There were no staff present aside from a security guard stationed in a vehicle parked outside the premises.

The site was previously owned by Somerset Council, which was also targeted by Palestine Action before selling the property last year. The Guardian attempted to contact the current landlords. Fences and barriers had been put up around the site after it was targeted by protesters.

The Aztec West facility is a different Elbit facility to that in Filton, Bristol, which was also targeted by Palestine Action and in relation to which 24 people are awaiting trial on charges including criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary. One individual has also been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

[ Proscribing Palestine Action: the UK’s liberal traditions are being underminedOpens in new window ]

Before it was proscribed, Palestine Action ran a campaign targeting the company’s UK sites and connected firms, which escalated significantly after Israel’s assault on Gaza in response to the October 7th, 2023, attacks by Hamas. Elbit System UK’s latest accounts show that it made an operating loss of £4.7m last year, compared with a profit of £3.8m in 2023.

Andrew Feinstein, an expert and author on the global arms trade and former member of the South African national assembly, described the closure as “extremely significant”, adding: “We need to remind ourselves that Elbit (Systems) is one of the two most important Israeli arms films, along with IAI – that is, it is obviously a key component of Israel’s military industrial complex.”

Last year, Elbit Systems UK sold its West Midlands-based subsidiary Elite KL (now Calatherm). After Elite KL’s operating profit fell by 75 per cent in 2022, it said that it was primarily a result of increased security costs, its Tamworth site having been targeted by Palestine Action. The new owners said they would not have any association with Elbit and would cancel its defence contracts.

In 2022, Elbit sold Ferranti P&C, part of its Oldham-based business, after 18 months of protests by Palestine Action as well as Oldham Peace.

Last month, Private Eye revealed that Elbit Systems UK was part of a consortium close to winning a £2 billion contract that would make it a “strategic partner” of the ministry of defence. The FT reported that former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain had written to the defence secretary, Jon Healey, urging him not to hand the contract to the company, given “the devastation unfolding in Gaza”.

Palestine Action has been granted permission for a judicial review in November of the decision to proscribe. However, at a court of appeal hearing on September 25th, the home secretary will try to overturn the permission decision.

Separately, police have begun making arrests at a central London protest against the ban on the organisation.

More than 1,000 people pledged to risk arrest on Saturday at the fresh protest, about double the number who took part in a demonstration last month where 532 people were arrested.

On Tuesday, hours before a press conference was due to start, Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer and one of the co-founders of Defend Our Juries, the group that has organised the demonstrations, was arrested by police along with four other spokespeople.

Protesters who signed up for Saturday’s demonstration have been instructed to withhold their details from officers to force en-masse processing at police stations, which organisers say would make it “practically impossible” to arrest everyone. At last month’s demonstration, the Metropolitan police said 212 of those arrested were transported to police stations.

The protest will coincide with a march in London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and others, but also comes amid mounting controversy over this year’s DSEI arms fair, Britain’s flagship defence show, which starts on Saturday. – Guardian