LONDON (AFP) – Britain said on Monday it would suspend some arms exports to Israel, citing a “clear risk” that they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament that the United Kingdom (UK) would suspend 30 out of 350 arms exports licences following a review by his department into Israel’s conduct of its war.
He said the partial ban covered items “which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza”, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones.
The ban does not include parts for Israel’s advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, Lammy added. Lammy announced a review looking at the arms sales shortly after Labour swept to power in a landslide general election victory over the Conservatives in early July.
“It is with regret that… 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,” he told lawmakers.
Britain’s centre-left Labour government has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and for the speeding up of aid deliveries into Gaza, since taking power on July 5.
Last week, the UK Foreign Ministry said it was “deeply” concerned by an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, urging it to “exercise restraint” and adhere to international law.
Amnesty International’s UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said the government’s decision was a belated acceptance of “the very clear and disturbing evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza”.
But he and other rights groups said it did not go far enough, and called the exemption for F-35 components “a catastrophically bad decision” as the jets were being used “extensively” in Gaza.
The UK government has faced legal action from rights groups about its export of arms and military components to Israel.
Britain’s strategic licensing criteria states that weapons should not be exported when there is a clear risk they could be used in international humanitarian law violations.
That led to claims that the government was ignoring its own rules in the Gaza conflict.
