LONDON – British counter terrorism police said Friday that they have arrested four people in connection with a break-in at a military base last week, during which two planes were vandalised.
Counter Terrorism Policing South East said in a statement that two men, 24 and 36, from London were arrested Thursday along with a 29-year-old woman of no fixed address "on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism."
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A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
They remain in police custody.
The arrests relate to a break-in at the Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton, during which two planes were damaged with red paint. The pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action subsequently released video footage appearing to show one of the two activists who entered the base spraying the paint into a jet’s turbine engines.
The group alleged that Britain was continuing to “send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel U.S./Israeli fighter jets,” and condemned the country as “an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East.”
Earlier this week, the British government said it will ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. The measure means it will be a criminal offense to belong to or support the group, with a maximum of 14 years in prison.
The group has sought to press its point with high-profile direct action, perhaps most notably in March when it targeted one of U.S. President Donald Trump's golf resorts in Scotland, painting “Gaza is Not For Sale” in giant letters on the lawn in response to his proposal to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population.
The government said a draft order for the ban will be laid in Parliament next week. Lawmakers still need to approve it.
Britain's government has proscribed about 80 organizations, including Hamas and al-Qaida, and far-right groups such as National Action.