https://sputnikglobe.com/20240903/following-breach-of-international-humanitarian-law-uk-to-halt-some-arms-exports-to-israel---report-1119990285.html
Following Breach of International Humanitarian Law, UK to Halt Some Arms Exports to Israel - Report
Following Breach of International Humanitarian Law, UK to Halt Some Arms Exports to Israel - Report
Sputnik International
The UK will suspend 30 of its 350 arms exports licenses to Israel due to a “clear risk” that they could be used in breaches of international humanitarian law.
2024-09-03T01:49+0000
2024-09-03T01:49+0000
2024-09-03T01:49+0000
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The UK will suspend 30 of its 350 arms exports licenses to Israel due to a “clear risk” that they could be used in breaches of international humanitarian law. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament on Monday that the UK government had concluded there to be a “clear risk” that weapons exported to Israel could be used to “commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”Lammy added that the partial ban will include items “which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza” against Hamas but did not include parts for F-35 fighter jets, Al Jazeera reported on Monday. However, he said that the decision to suspend the licenses is not the same as a blanket ban or an arms embargo and said the UK will continue to support Israel’s right to self-defense in accordance with international law.The decision comes after the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network filed a legal challenge regarding the UK’s arms sales to Israel in December. In April, a High Court judge granted a judicial review hearing for October. Dearbhla Minogue, a senior lawyer for the Global Legal Action Network, said the UK’s decision “vindicates everything Palestinians have been saying for months.”However, Samel Perlo-Freeman of the Campaign Against Arms Trade told Al Jazeera that while the UK has “acknowledged for the first time that Israel is not complying with international law”, there is “one huge, huge loophole” regarding components for the F-35 fighter jets still being supplied to Israel.UK officials argued that suspending critical components within a global pool of "spare parts" could harm the maintenance of F-35s in other countries, the Financial Times reported. In response, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallanr said on X that he was “deeply disheartened to learn of the sanctions placed by the UK Government on export licenses to Israel’s defense establishment.”Thus far, nearly 41,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed while more than 94,000 have been injured as a result of Israel’s war against Hamas. Yet, Western nations including the US and the UK have exercised their allyship by exporting weapons and other funding to Israel despite the nearly 1-year-old conflict’s staggering death toll. Roughly 100 hostages are reportedly still being held captive in Gaza, but a third of are presumed to be dead.The UK sells a smaller amount of weapons and other supplies to Israel when compared to Germany and the US, but because the UK is one of Israel’s closest allies news of the decision could carry with it some symbolic significance.Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has faced pressure from its own members and lawmakers to address the violence in the Gaza Strip.Unlike their Conservative predecessor, the Labour government said in July that the UK will not intervene in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) request for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Starmer also restored funding for the humanitarian organization UNRWA which had been suspended by the previous government in January.
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Following Breach of International Humanitarian Law, UK to Halt Some Arms Exports to Israel - Report
Following the Labour Party’s landslide victory in July’s general election, Lammy announced his decision to update a review on arms sales to Israel to ensure they complied with international law.
The UK will suspend 30 of its 350 arms exports licenses to Israel due to a “clear risk” that they could be used in breaches of international humanitarian law. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament on Monday that the UK government had concluded there to be a “clear risk” that weapons exported to Israel could be used to “commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
Lammy added that the partial ban will include items “which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza” against Hamas but did not include parts for F-35 fighter jets,
Al Jazeera reported on Monday. However, he said that the decision to suspend the licenses is not the same as a blanket ban or an arms embargo and said the UK will continue to support Israel’s right to self-defense in accordance with international law.
“It is with regret that I inform the House [of Commons] today the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” the foreign secretary said.
The decision comes after the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network filed a legal challenge regarding the UK’s arms sales to Israel in December. In April, a High Court judge granted a judicial review hearing for
October. Dearbhla Minogue, a senior lawyer for the Global Legal Action Network, said the UK’s decision “
vindicates everything Palestinians have been saying for months.”
12 December 2023, 23:48 GMT
However, Samel Perlo-Freeman of the Campaign Against Arms Trade told Al Jazeera that while the UK has “acknowledged for the first time that Israel is not complying with international law”, there is “one huge, huge loophole” regarding components for the F-35 fighter jets still being supplied to Israel.
“We had confirmation just today from a Danish NGO Danwatch which got confirmation from the Israeli military that an F-35 was used to drop 3,000-pound bombs on al-Mawasi, a so-called safe zone, on July 19,” he said. “So saying that you’re going to stop arms that might be used in Gaza except for the F-35 is a bit like saying you’re going vegetarian except for bacon.”
UK officials argued that suspending critical components within a global pool of "spare parts" could harm the maintenance of F-35s in other countries, the Financial Times reported. In
response, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallanr said on X that he was “deeply disheartened to learn of the sanctions placed by the UK Government on export licenses to Israel’s defense establishment.”
Thus far, nearly 41,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed while more than 94,000 have been injured as a result of Israel’s war against Hamas. Yet, Western nations including the US and the UK have exercised their allyship by exporting weapons and other funding to Israel despite the nearly 1-year-old conflict’s staggering death toll. Roughly 100 hostages are reportedly still being held captive in Gaza, but a third of are presumed to be dead.
The UK sells a smaller amount of weapons and other supplies to Israel when compared to Germany and the US, but because the UK is one of Israel’s closest allies news of the decision could carry with it some symbolic significance.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has faced pressure from its own members and lawmakers to address the violence in the Gaza Strip.
Unlike their Conservative predecessor, the Labour government said in
July that the UK will not intervene in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) request for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Starmer also restored funding for the humanitarian organization UNRWA which had been suspended by the previous government in January.
