US designates UK-based Palestine Action as foreign 'terrorist group'

US designates UK-based Palestine Action as foreign 'terrorist group'. AFPReuters Published August 26, 2026 Updated August 26, 2026 11: 07pm.

Key points

• It gained visibility after Israel introduced a devastating military onslaught on Gaza after the Oct 7, 2023 attack by fighters from Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel.
• Set up in 2020, Palestine Action is appealing against the UK administration ban.
• Palestine Action had increasingly targeted Israel-linked defence firms in Britain, especially Israel's largest defence firm Elbit Systems.
• As being "violent far-left terrorist groups", US State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot declared all three groups, including Palestine Action.
• The United States on Wednesday named the UK-based Palestine Action group.

In practice, the United States on Wednesday named the UK-based Palestine Action group. It has been banned by the British administration, as a "specially designated global terrorist" organisation.

Notably, the US additionally issued sanctions against the group, claiming the move was for supporting "an act of terrorism".

Set up in 2020, Palestine Action is appealing against the UK administration ban. It has led to thousands of arrests. Rights groups have decried the ban, saying it was aimed at criminalising dissent.

Responding to the US move on Wednesday, Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, remarked the group's activities "have always been about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine".

"The fact that Trump is now taking inspiration from Britain's repression of the movement for Palestinian freedom exposes just how dangerous this ban is and should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties, " Ammori remarked in an official note to Reuters.

Palestine Action's stated goal on its website is to end "global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime".

Since coming to power for his second term, US President Donald Trump has issued orders for his administration to designate what it terms "far-left" groups as terrorist organisations.

Wednesday's US action additionally designated Italy-based Autistici/Inventati (additionally known as A/I Collective) as a "terrorist" organisation.

For context, the US Treasury Department additionally imposed sanctions on the transnational group Masar Badil, saying it operates as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The latter group had already been designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remarked Washington would bring "the full weight of our economic tools to bear" against far-left groups.

"Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated."

In April, Amnesty International declared that the leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia were seeking to impose a new "predatory" world order in their crackdowns on dissent.

In short, US designates UK-based Palestine Action as foreign ' terrorist group&#039 is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.