Twelve Palestine Action prisoners granted bail

Twelve defendants allegedly involved in a Palestine Action raid on an Israeli-owned arms factory in the UK were granted bail at a hearing on Friday.

Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed, Zara Farooque, Heba Muraisi, Qesser Zuhrah, Salaam Mahmood, Moiz Ibrahim, Finn Collins, Hannah Davidson, Harland Archer, Louie Adams and Liam Mullany were held on remand on charges in connection with a break-in at a factory belonging to Israel's largest weapons supplier, Elbit Systems, on 6 August 2024.

The move follows the release of 11 others involved in the same case, with the acquittal of six defendants on charges of aggravated burglary on 4 February and bail granted to another five on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Crown Prosecution Service announced it was dropping aggravated burglary charges against the remaining 18 defendants. 

The charge, which carries a maximum life sentence, was the most serious that the majority of the defendants were facing.

The 18 will continue to face other charges in connection with the alleged raid.

The campaign group supporting the defendants hailed their release as a "monumental victory".

"Despite the state's best efforts to break each and every one of them, they will walk out today with their heads held high," the group said in a statement.

'Intended to damage property'

The defendants' release follows a months-long trial in which six activists faced charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder in connection with the alleged break-in at the weapons plant. 

One of those, Samuel Corner, additionally faced a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent for striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.

During the trial, the prosecution told the court that the six defendants entered the factory with sledgehammers, intending, if needed, to injure and incapacitate security guards. 

The defence disputed that the sledgehammers were “weapons of offence”, and were instead only intended purely to damage property.

They further challenged the prosecution's framing of the incident as a "meticulously planned" attack, contending that the defendants did not expect the arrival of security guards and were "completely out of their depth".

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On 4 February, following 36 hours of deliberations, jurors acquitted all six defendants of charges of aggravated burglary, and failed to return verdicts on a number of counts including criminal damage.

Jurors additionally acquitted three defendants of violent disorder, but did not return verdicts on the same charge for the others.

The jury was also hung on charges of criminal damage, and a charge faced by Corner of grievous bodily harm with intent for allegedly striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.

Five of the defendants were granted bail; Corner was remanded in custody.

On Wednesday, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the six will face a retrial planned for 16 February 2027 on the charges which had not ended in verdicts.

Several of the defendants have been held on remand for around 18 months - in excess of the UK's standard pre-trial custody time limit.

Corner is the only defendant in the ongoing trial who remains on remand.

Four of the bailed prisoners launched a hunger strike in October 2025 over their prolonged pre-trial imprisonment and the proscription of Palestine Action.

The mass food refusal was considered to be largest since the 1981 Irish Republican hunger strike

Some of the defendants refused food for up to 73 days, with several facing hospitalisation on multiple occasions.

The prisoners ended their strike on 14 January when the government decided not to award a multibillion-pound contract to the UK subsidiary of Elbit Systems.