UK
Halt arms sales to Israel – Zarah Sultana & 130+ Parliamentarians make humanitarian call
Dear Foreign Secretary and Business Secretary,
We write as cross-party parliamentarians calling on you to immediately suspend export licenses for arms transfers to Israel.
The case for this is overwhelming. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault, 70% women and children. Israeli bombing has destroyed or severely damaged up to 80% of civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, schools and sanitation facilities.[1] Famine is now imminent in northern Gaza, with children already dying of hunger.[2]
The United Nations Secretary-General, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others have said that Israel has committed grave violations of international law in this assault.[3] The International Court of Justice has said that Israel’s assault is “plausibly” in breach of the Genocide Convention.
In this context, ‘business as usual’ for UK arms exports to Israel is totally unacceptable. Both domestic and international law, including Criterion 1 and 2 of the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria and Articles 6 and 7 of the international Arms Trade Treaty, require the government to prevent the transfer of military equipment where there is a clear or overriding risk that such exports might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law.
But UK-made weapons are being used in Gaza. For example, the government grants export licences for parts of Israeli F-16 fighter jets. According to a United Nations investigation, it was likely one of these jets – made with UK parts – that, in January, bombed British doctors at a compound in Gaza housing an emergency medical team from the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians.[4]
In previous escalations of the conflict, UK governments have admitted that UK-made arms could have been used by Israel in Gaza. In 2009, under a Labour government, the UK suspended arms licenses for equipment likely to be used in Gaza.[5] In 2014, under a Conservative-led government, the UK said it would suspend licenses if hostilities resumed in Gaza.[6]
Today, the scale of violence committed by the Israeli military is vastly more deadly, but the UK government has failed to act.
Other countries are taking action. The most recent example of this is Canada, where last week the government announced it is halting arms sales to Israel.[7] This follows United Nations experts calling for arms exports to Israel to be immediately stopped.[8]
We therefore call on you to immediately suspend export licenses for arms transfers to Israel.
Yours sincerely,
Zarah Sultana MP
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