Anti-Israel activists claim they damaged aircraft at British military base overnight

An anti-Israel activist group claims that its members damaged two military aircraft at a British Royal Air Force base overnight.

In a statement published online, Palestine Action says that two activists broke into the RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire, England, and “used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers and caused further damage using crowbars.”

It says that its activists also sprayed red paint “symbolizing Palestinian bloodshed” across the runway, and then snuck back out of the airbase, all while evading detection.

The group claims that there are daily flights from RAF Brize Norton to an RAF base in Cyprus, where “British planes collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza.”

“By putting the planes out of service, activists have interrupted Britain’s direct participation in the commission of genocide and war crimes across the Middle East,” reads the statement.

BREAKING: Palestine Action break into RAF Brize Norton and damage two military aircrafts.

Flights depart daily from the base to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

From Cyprus, British planes collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/zzmFqGKW8N

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) June 20, 2025

The UK Ministry of Defense said in December 2023 that it would conduct surveillance flights over Gaza to aid in hostage recovery efforts following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, assault in southern Israel, when 251 people were taken hostage.

It denied at the time that it was carrying out the flights for any other purpose, and stressed that the surveillance aircraft would be “unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages.”

The flights are said to have continued until now, and UK Defense Secretary John Healey reiterated to investigative journalism group Declassified UK last week that the only intelligence passed on to Israel from the surveillance flights is “linked to finding and helping freed hostages.”