‘Stop arming Israel’, urge family of slain aid worker
Former Royal Marine James Henderson was killed aged 33. (Photo: Hand out via Alamy)
Three Britons were among seven humanitarian aid workers killed in Gaza on 1 April during Israeli airstrikes on a World Central Kitchen convoy.
The attack drew outrage from Britain’s most senior politicians, with Rishi Sunak demanding a “thorough and transparent investigation” into what happened.
Keir Starmer described the incident as “horrifying”, adding that his “thoughts [were] with the families of all those killed”.
Now the family of James ‘Jim’ Henderson, one of the Britons killed in the attack, has issued a letter to Starmer demanding the truth about events on 1 April.
The letter, sent by their lawyer Forz Khan, also urges the new Labour government to end Britain’s military relationship with Israel and to condemn the “war crimes and genocide” being committed in Gaza.
Total transparency
The family’s first demand is for “full and total transparency” from the UK government regarding the “death of James and the other British aid workers”.
That includes a guarantee that “no weapon(s) or part(s) of weapons” used by Israel during the attack “were provided by the UK government”.
Israeli forces carried out the attack with a Hermes 450 drone which may be powered by an engine produced in Britain, according to Campaign Against the Arms Trade.
The UK government has repeatedly refused to rule out whether British machinery was used in the attack.
The Henderson family is also concerned about a British surveillance plane that was flying over Gaza on 1 April.
As Declassified recently revealed, the RAF holds spy footage of Gaza from the day of the massacre, but is refusing to publish it or share it with the families of those killed.
The Hendersons are consequently asking Starmer to “confirm that this [footage] will be released to the family”.
James’ father Neil previously told Declassified: “This footage should not be kept hidden from our family”.
He added that “the UK government must urgently disclose any evidence it holds” which might “shed light on why James was wrongly targeted by Israel”.
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Arms sales
The Hendersons are also urging Starmer to confirm that “no further weapons whatsoever will be provided by the UK government to Israel”.
Despite conflicting news reports, the Labour government has not imposed any arms embargo on Israel pending an internal review of the country’s compliance with humanitarian law.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy said in July that it would “not be right” to have a “blanket ban” on arms exports to Israel.
“This is one of the toughest neighbourhoods in the world. Israel is a country surrounded by people who would see its annihilation”, Lammy declared in parliament.
The Henderson family is consequently “deeply concerned that history will show that Britain, the country they love, was complicit with Israeli genocide, illegality, [and] failures to meet international obligations”.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel since October, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court.
The number of aid workers killed in Gaza now totals over 250, according to the United Nations.
Campaign Against Arms Trade has said an arms embargo would be “the most concrete step the UK can take to bring an end to this obscene slaughter.”
Five previous UK prime ministers, from both main parties, suspended arms sales to Israel during earlier conflicts.
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