LONDON: UK trade union members on Friday blockaded a British military equipment maker in southeastern England, calling for a cease-fire in Israel鈥檚 offensive in Gaza.
Demonstrators brandished banners and placards reading 鈥渘o business as usual鈥� and 鈥渢axpayers have blood on their hands鈥� outside the gates of the BAE Systems factory in Rochester.
Organizers said they were aiming to shut down the factory 鈥渨hich provides components for military aircraft currently being used by Israeli forces in the bombardment of Gaza.鈥�
They said it was part of an 鈥渋nternational day of action for Palestine鈥� organized in response to a call by Palestinian trade unionists.
Since the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7 鈥� in which Israel says 1,400 people were killed and 240 taken hostage 鈥� Israel has bombarded Gaza relentlessly and sent in ground troops.
The Palestinian territory鈥檚 Hamas-run health ministry says more than 10,800 people have been killed in Gaza, many of them children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a cease-fire without the release of the hostages would mean 鈥渟urrender to Hamas.鈥�
Aid organizations said on Thursday that a full cease-fire is needed to get help to civilians in Gaza wounded in Israeli bombardments, and to transport crucial aid to the 2.4 million people living in the besieged territory, one of the most densely populated in the world.