British cosmetics retailer Lush on Wednesday closed its U.K. stores, factories and online operations for a day to protest the humanitarian toll of Israel’s genocidal attacks and blockade in Gaza.
The international retailer said it displayed signs reading "stop starving Gaza - we are closed in solidarity" across shuttered shop windows.
"Whilst Lush is losing a day of takings, this also means that the UK government is losing a day of tax contributions from Lush and our customers," the company, which sells its products in over 50 countries, said on its website.
Lush said it "shares the anguish that millions of people feel seeing the images of starving people in Gaza" and called for the U.K. government to end arms sales to Israel.
London has, in recent months, suspended some export licences to Israel for arms used in Gaza, but some U.K.-made parts, such as components for Israeli F-35 jets, are still exported there.
Lush, which has over 100 shops in Britain, faced a backlash in 2023 after a Dublin store displayed a sign urging "boycott Israel", which the company called an "isolated" incident.
It has since launched a "Watermelon Slice" soap resembling the fruit, which has come to represent solidarity with Palestinians, with the profits going to mental health services for children in Gaza and Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army has launched a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 63,600 Palestinians in Gaza. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
