Hundreds of Australian and US contractors have today been prevented from entering the top secret Pine Gap spy base by pro-Palestinian protesters, reports say.

The demonstration involves two boats blocking the access road, “linking it to the growing waves of global aid flotillas,” according to a statement by the protest group.

Photos released by activists showed two people locked onto a concrete barrel, sitting arm in arm, blocking the road beside two boats and local residents.

They succeeded in blocking 800 contractors from entering the base, organisers of the protest claimed.

Pine Gap, a joint US-Australian signals surveillance facility, is about 20km south-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Activists say the installation has played a key role aiding Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which a UN-backed inquiry labelled genocide.

“We’re here because Pine Gap is sharing surveillance data, including geo-location information from mobile phones with the genocidal Israeli regime, who are targeting journalists and their families, children, teachers, doctors, patients and the entire population of Palestine,” protester Jorgen Doyle said.

The protesters are calling for the Australian government to launch immediate sanctions against Israel; the Australian attorney general prosecute Pine Gap’s active involvement in genocide by Israel; close and return Pine Gap “stolen lands” to local indigenous people.

The Australian Signal Directorate has been contacted for comment.