Pro-Palestine activists target UK offices of Germany's Allianz

Pro-Palestinian activists targeted UK offices of German financial services firm Allianz ALVG.DE on Tuesday, daubing exteriors with red paint in protest against the company's alleged links to Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.

Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the protest in a post on social media platform X/Twitter. It said demonstrators had attacked ten offices of Allianz in the UK and had "occupied" the insurer's UK headquarters in Guildford, south of London, since overnight.

"Without insurance, Elbit couldn't operate in Britain," Palestine Action said in its post.

UK-based spokespeople for Allianz, one of Europe's biggest financial services groups, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vandalism in support of Hamas 

Police cordoned off Allianz Commercial's office in the heart of London's City financial district after the vandalism, which coincides with the first anniversary of the start of the Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 hostages on Oct. 7 last year. 

Besides urging customers to boycott certain financial firms, demonstrators have expanded protests to include defacing buildings using red paint to symbolize their support for Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Allianz is the latest global financial firm to have suffered vandalism of this nature, with British lender Barclays BARC.L also a frequent target for pro-Palestine political protesters.

Barclays has faced criticism for providing financial services to defense firms that allegedly produce equipment used by the IDF.

Barclays has repeatedly denied using its money to invest in defense companies and says it only trades in such companies in response to client instruction or demand.