Avocados have been smashed or hidden in a Powys Co-op - to protest the war in Gaza.

Members of the Dyfi Valley Palestine Solidarity group who are opposed to the military action taken in Gaza have taken to hiding or destroying Israeli avocados in the Co-op in Machynlleth, which they claim have been mislabelled as British.

The move is to try and push for a boycott of Israeli goods akin to the boycott of South African goods during the apartheid era.

In a statement posted online the group said: “A member of DVPS alerted us to the shelf labels for their avocados.

“They read that the origin is the UK. The packaging or stickers still say Israel, but there's much bafflement as to why the shelf label is misleading.

“Some customers will only read the shelf label, and so could be mistaken in thinking the avocados to be OK to buy.”

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Other member have taken more direct action to try and make it more difficult for customers to buy the avocados – by either hiding them in the store or by destroying them by smashing them on the floor.

They added: “Some other members have been taking direct action in the store, hiding or destroying the products.”

“There is indeed strong evidence that the profits of trade are going towards a plausible genocide committed by Israel. It has been said that the boycotting of South African goods during Apartheid was a major factor in bringing down that regime.”

The group said they had also contacted the Co-op to ask about how the sale of Israeli products “tallies with their ethical policy”.

In response to an enquiry from the County Times, a spokesperson for the Co-op said: "We can confirm that the country of origin on the shelf label for the prepacked avocado was a misprint and has been rectified in this store.

"We are currently sourcing our loose avocados from Israel, South Africa and Brazil

"For almost 15 years, we’ve not sourced from the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories, nor do we engage with suppliers sourcing from there."