London police detained 86 people on Saturday after a crowd gathered outside Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London in support of a Palestine Action member on hunger strike.
According to the Metropolitan Police, the protesters “refused to leave the grounds when ordered to do so," blocked prison staff from entering and exiting, threatened officers at the scene, and some managed to access a staff‑only entrance area.
“All those involved are currently detained and will be arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass," the police said.
A police spokesperson told the Daily Mirror that the demonstrators had assembled in support of Umer Khalid, a Palestine Action member who stopped drinking water several days ago.
Khalid, 22, has been held on remand since July and is part of a group suspected of break‑ins and criminal damage on behalf of Palestine Action, though he denies the charges. He began a hunger strike in November with seven others, briefly pausing around Christmas after falling ill. He is now the final member still refusing food.
Founded in 2020, Palestine Action describes itself as a “direct action" network opposing what it calls British “complicity" with Israel, particularly in relation to arms sales.
The British government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization last July, days after its activists protesting the Gaza war broke into an air force base in southern England, causing an estimated £7 million in damage to two aircraft.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper sought the proscription under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The measure passed overwhelmingly in the House of Commons, 385 to 26, placing Palestine Action on the same legal footing as Al‑Qaeda and Islamic State. The House of Lords also approved the ban.
The group also previously defaced a painting of Lord Balfour at Trinity College Cambridge, spraying the portrait with red paint and slashing it.
In another incident, Palestine Action members stole two busts of Israel’s first President, Chaim Weizmann, from a glass cabinet at Manchester University.
In 2024, members of the group raided a factory belonging to Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems. During the recorded clashes, one of the activists attacked officers with a hammer, causing serious injury to one of them.
In December, a Palestine Action activist admitted in court that she and fellow members of the group intended to inflict maximum property damage during the raid, but insisted she opposed violence.