Demonstrators have blocked access to US military base in Alice Springs

A woman has been arrested after pro-Palestine protesters blockaded access to a secretive military base in Central Australia.

Police have arrested a pro-Palestine protestor following a demonstration blocking access to the secretive Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility.

Acting Commander James Gray-Spence confirmed a 35-year-old woman had been arrested for obstructing the public use of Hatt Rd on Friday.

She is due to face Alice Springs Local Court on November 16 to face charges of failing to cease to loiter and obstructing a public road.

It comes three hours after a dozen protesters allegedly blocked access to the US military base in support of Palestinian civilians trapped in the Gaza conflict.

A line of commuters waiting to enter Hatt Road were forced to queue up along Stuart Highway.

The group calling themselves “Territorians for Palestine” allegedly blockaded the only road leading to the Central Australia military base in an act of “solidarity and unequivocal support for the People of Palestine”.

One of the “key” protesters, Gem allegedly locked their arm in a barrel covered in red paint as they sat in the middle of the road.

Due to the concrete barrel, police reportedly had to negotiate with the key protestor to remove the concrete barrel without causing harm.

NT Fire and Rescue services, four police cars and unmarked police cars, and half a dozen to a dozen police officers were called in to monitor the protest, which was described as “gentle” and “docile”.

Mr Gray-Spence said investigations remain ongoing and the road had been cleared.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles would not comment on the protest, only saying it was a “matter for NT Police”.

It comes as Israeli troops prepare for a ground invasion of the 363sq km of the Gaza Strip in an anticipated escalation of the bloody conflict.

The 14-day Israeli bombing campaign has killed an estimated 3700 Palestinians — including more than 1000 children — in retaliation to Hamas’s co-ordinated attacks on October 7.

According to the UN, nearly half of Gaza’s two million population has been displaced by the violence.

Israel’s second largest city, Tel Aviv has also evacuated embassies across the Middle East ahead of an invasion.

The US State Department also issued an extremely rare “worldwide” travel warning for increased caution due to the potential for terrorist attacks or violence directed at American citizens across the globe.

The warning came after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, where he pledged his support for Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On the Territory pro-Palestine group Facebook livestream an unnamed woman said the group had blocked the road to stop workers heading to the base and “take some time to mourn for the horrible deaths and losses” in Palestine.

“The Pine Gap Facility is a US military base, which conducts surveillance and monitoring on behalf of the CIA, NSA and other US defence agencies,” the woman said.

“They are responsible for surveillance and co-ordination of American military operations throughout the world, including and especially in the Middle East.

A group of activists is currently staging a blockade at Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility near Alice Springs. Picture: Territorians for Palestine

“(It is) deeply interconnected with the US military conflict throughout the world and the many atrocities they have committed, and directly implicated in the genocidal violence that is happening in Palestine right now.”

Originally published as Demonstrators have blocked access to US military base in Alice Springs