LONDON: UK authorities are under pressure to halt arms exports to Israel from MPs within the governing Labour Party.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended around 30 arms export licenses to Israel in September, amid warnings that the weapons could be used to breach international law in Gaza, but hundreds of other licenses remain in place.
During a parliamentary debate on Monday, Labour MP Steve Witherden criticized a lack of transparency on arms exports to Israel, and asked the government to explain what criteria would be needed to enact a broader ban.
He highlighted the UK’s role in the manufacture and export of parts for the F-35 fighter jet, which is used by the Israeli military.
Palestinian rights group Al-Haq has previously said the export license for F-35 parts creates a “carve-out” that gives “rise to a significant risk of facilitating crime” by the Israeli military.
Witherden said: “The foreign secretary’s recent condemnation of Israel’s action as ‘monstrous’ was welcome but incomplete, for my very same government continues to facilitate such actions.
“We can’t have it both ways. We can’t condemn atrocity whilst simultaneously fueling the machinery that enables it. We can’t claim to uphold international law while profiting from its breach.”
He added: “It’s the government’s position that the need to continue to supply F-35 components outweighs the risk of genocide and, if so, is there any circumstance that would lead to the UK stopping that supply?
“The government has claimed that there are red lines that would trigger a halt to exports, but Gaza is already a slaughterhouse.”
Witherden continued: “Children are emaciated or dying of hunger. Hospitals have been intentionally destroyed. Israel’s leaders vow to wipe out Gaza and still the weapons flow.”
He added: “I call on this government to suspend all arms exports to Israel to ensure that no British-made weapons are used in Israel’s brutal plans to annexe, starve and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population.”
Trade Minister Douglas Alexander responded that UK rules prevent sales of F-35 components directly to Israel, but that as part of a global supply network, there are limits on what the UK could do to prevent parts reaching the country.
“Undermining the F-35 program at this juncture would, in the view of the government, disrupt international peace and security, NATO deterrence and European defense as a whole,” Alexander said, adding that he believes Israel’s actions in responding to the “act of barbarism” by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, have been “disproportionate” and “counterproductive to any lasting peace settlement.”
He reminded MPs of the government’s decision to suspend arms licenses shortly after taking office last year.
“This measure is still in place and I’d like to reiterate that, based on our current assessment of potential breaches of international humanitarian law, we aren’t licensing military equipment provided directly to the (Israeli military) that could be used for military operations in Gaza,” he told the House of Commons.
“It’s right to acknowledge that our export licenses granted in relation to Israel cover a wider remit than simply those items that may be used in Gaza.
“There are a relatively small number of licenses for the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) relating to equipment which we assess wouldn’t be used in the current conflict including, for example, parts of air defense systems that defend Israel from acts such as the major aerial attack from Iran in April 2024.
“We also think it’s right for us to continue providing military-grade body armor used by non-governmental organizations and journalists, and to provide parts to the supply chain which are ultimately re-exported back out of Israel to support the defense of our NATO allies.”
