Exposed: Where Palestine Action plans to strike next
Telegraph uncovers major recruitment drive days before group is proscribed as terrorist organisation
Will Bolton26 June 2025 5:51pm BST
Crime correspondent
Palestine Action is preparing to attack targets across the country including RAF bases and a drone factory.
In a meeting recorded by Telegraph reporters, the group outlined a list of new targets after its members damaged planes during a break-in at RAF Brize Norton last week.
Palestine Action has launched a major recruitment drive just days before it is officially proscribed as a terrorist organisation, putting it on a par with Hamas, al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
The Telegraph was able to access one of its online meetings and can, for the first time, disclose details about the group’s secretive structure, its new focus on covert action, and advice given to members on exploiting the legal aid system following any arrest.
The meeting’s organiser boasted that its activists ranged from “nursery teachers to surgeons”, aged from 18 to 80.
Tactics discussed included breaking into factories and hitting “everything you can find with a sledgehammer”, as well as how to set up autonomous cells able to target military bases without detection.
A slide in the call identified three RAF bases most suitable for attack: RAF Cranwell and RAF Barkston Heath, both in Lincolnshire, and RAF Valley, in Anglesey, North Wales. It also recommended action against defence companies believed to be supplying arms to Israel, including a drone factory in Leicester.
The Telegraph has shared details of the plans with police and the Ministry of Defence.
Palestine Action triggered a major security review of military bases after breaking into Brize Norton, where it sprayed red paint on two military planes and potentially caused millions of pounds of damage.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, called the attack “disgraceful” and vowed to proscribe the group. Palestine Action said it would mount a legal challenge against that decision.
In the wake of the announcement, the group has been carrying out an intensive series of recruitment workshops in an attempt to build a network of autonomous cells across the country that will target military bases.
RAF Cranwell was the world’s first Air Academy and it continues to select and train the next generation of RAF officers. RAF Barkston Heath is a relief landing ground for RAF Cranwell and is the home of 57 Sqn’s B Flight of No 3 Flying Training School. RAF Valley on Anglesey is home to No 4 Flying Training School, responsible for training the UK’s next generation of fighter pilots.
All three bases are said by Palestine Action to have links to Elbit Systems UK, a military manufacturer that has been repeatedly targeted by the group.
Other targets listed included UAV Tactical Systems, a drone company owned by Elbit.
At the start of the online “direct action workshop”, an unidentified female activist told the group of around 50 potential recruits that they would be required to make “sacrifices” for the cause.
The participants were told they would be part of a new, sustained wave of attacks targeting military bases.
The organiser said that the proposed proscription was “draconian and dangerous” and Palestine Action would “continue to operate” even if designated as a terror group.
She was standing in front of a flag associated with the YPJ an all-female militia involved in the Syrian civil war whose members are mostly Kurdish.
New members were asked to download the encrypted messaging app Signal and were told they would be messaged by anonymous organisers at some point after the workshop.
After being contacted, the new recruits would be divided into cells which could plot their own actions.
Among those said to be in the meeting were university lecturers and a clergyman.
Instructions to download Signal, create a unique username and send it discreetly to a member of Palestine Action proved a struggle for some of the older participants.
The division of the groups into individual autonomous units is a deliberate strategy to prevent leaders of the organisation being arrested in connection with various plots, as has happened in the case of other protest groups, such as Extinction Rebellion.
In an article published in April, Huda Ammori, the group’s co-founder, said it had deliberately been structured to prevent those in leadership roles from being detained.
She said: “By being security-conscious and working in small groups, we can make it difficult for the authorities to respond to individual actions by targeting the movement as a whole – such that Palestine Action can continue to grow, even in hostile conditions.”
Ms Ammori, who previously supported the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, founded the group in 2020 alongside Richard Barnard, 51, a former member of Extinction Rebellion.
The 31-year-old was born in Bolton to a Palestinian father, a surgeon, and an Iraqi mother. She graduated from the University of Manchester with an international business and finance degree.
Legal warnings
The recruits were told that they must be aware of the legal ramifications of their actions, but were advised they could benefit from a free lawyer under government rules if arrested.
The group was shown a list of the potential punishments they could receive for specific actions.
For a “locking offence”, where one locks themselves onto property and refuses to move, they could expect up to six months in prison.
Aggravated trespass would lead to three months and a £2,500 fine, as would causing criminal damage under £5,000.
Criminal damage that was over £5,000 could lead to a 10-year sentence, while burglary charges would lead to a similar sentence.
The organiser said: “The conviction and courage it takes to take this action in the first place is accepting that level of sacrifice.”
She said there were currently 19 members of the group in prison and boasted that activists consisted of everyone from “nursery teachers to surgeons” and “from 18 to 80-year-olds”.
She added: “As much as we can stand by our morals and our ethics, we have to know for a fact we have to be well informed that there are risks that we are taking – that is both legal consequences especially as time has gone on, things have gotten worse in the legal framework and what results we are getting in the courtrooms, but also psychologically and financially.”
The organiser did not mention the fact that if Palestine Action is proscribed, anyone who is a member of the group or expresses support for it would face sentences of up to 14 years in prison.
All of the recruits were read out an “actions agreement”, in which it was stated: “Each individual takes part in the movement from their own free will.
“We encourage all to join but we do not pressure people into doing things that make them uncomfortable.”
Recruits were warned that if they were arrested, Palestine Action would not pay their legal fees but would offer “support”.
An “arrest support group” would be on hand to help those detained and recruits were told that if they did not have enough money to pay legal costs, they could rely on legal aid.
The organiser said: “We do not use duty solicitors. [Our lawyers] will apply for legal aid on your behalf if eligible.
“And everybody, as I said, even if you’re a millionaire, you get free legal advice in the police station.”
Covert action
Outlining the various strategies for attacking targets, the organiser said that the plan was to carry out sustained, serious disruption.
In the past the group had focused on carrying out “accountable” attacks with the aim of getting caught and raising publicity.
The focus for the new recruits is on carrying out covert actions and escaping undetected. They were told not to take phones on raids and to hand over their belongings to neighbours in case their homes were searched if they were arrested.
The organiser said: “There is obviously a risk of getting arrested but the aim is not to get arrested.
“It means covering up anything that might make you identifiable, doing the action at a certain time, making sure it is as quick as possible, and essentially trying to get away at the end of it.”
She said that the actions could be categorised as low risk, mid risk, high risk and extra high risk.
She added: “Essentially, whether it’s locking yourself on, whether it’s getting up on a factory and, starting to hit everything that you can find with the sledgehammer and everything in between, whether it’s being in front of the gates… we’ve seen so many examples of this, there are so many different ways of disrupting.”
The recruits were told not to speak about actions to anyone outside the group or to share the identity of anyone participating in attacks.
“We do not provide police with any information that may compromise activists, actions or the movement… cause comes first”, the organiser added.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The UK’s defence estate is vital to our national security and this government will not tolerate those who put that security at risk.
“This Government is taking the strong step of proscribing Palestine Action due to its activities, which are a threat to our national security.”
A spokesman for North Wales Police said: “Our officers continue to liaise with MoD staff in relation to security matters at RAF Valley, Anglesey.
“The emergence of potential threats to the site is recognised, with the need for additional policing and security patrols kept under regular review.”
Lincolnshire Police has been contacted for comment.
