A petition against an arms fair which is taking place at Twickenham Stadium has reached over 1000 signatures

The arms fair is for the International Armoured Vehicle and has taken place at Twickenham every January since 2015, and will be taking place between 22 January and 25 January this year.

This year there is also a second meeting at the end of February for the International Military Helicopter.

The petition, launched by PSC Richmond & Kingston has reached over 1000 signatures.

In the description of the petition, they said: "Twickenham Stadium is once again hosting Defense iQ with two conferences to sell and promote weaponry and arms.

"Representatives from many repressive regimes such as China, Saudi Arabia, UAE and more will attend. Companies such as Elbit Systems, Leonardo and Raytheon who sell arms to Israel and have profiteered from the killing of 20,000 Gazans (and counting) are to be presenters, guests and sponsors at these events.

"The companies sponsoring and speaking at these events are the same ones arming Israel with civilian-slaughtering weaponry

"Not only are the sponsors and speakers at these upcoming Twickenham Stadium conferences supplying devastating weapons to the Israeli military, they're bragging openly about the profits they're making from this war."

A spokesperson from Kingston and Richmond Palestinian Solidarity Campaign said: "This is the home of England Rugby, and close beside it lies a local primary school with about 680 children on roll.

"Since early October, every single week, the Israeli military has killed as many children as attend this local school, the equivalent of wiping out a whole school community of children, week after week. 

"Many local residents did not know about the arms fairs, but the local branch of the PSC and their supporters are making sure that local people are being informed."

The Richmond and Kingston PSC will have a stall in Twickenham on Saturday 20 January and a protest at Twickenham Stadium on Monday.

A spokesperson from the Rugby Football Union said: "We host many successful private events throughout the year at Twickenham Stadium. 

"As a host, we are politically neutral and our main priority is to ensure that all events are safe and secure for both clients and local residents."