LONDON: The UK government is failing people in Gaza by continuing to allow parts manufactured for the F-35 jet program be used by the Israeli military, a British surgeon has said.
Prof. Nick Maynard of Oxford University told a two-day tribunal in London that he had seen first-hand the damage done by Israel in Gaza, especially to hospitals, and that the UK’s inaction on stopping the supply of parts amounts to complicity in attacks on innocent civilians.
“I’ve been in these hospitals, I’ve had unlimited access to every square inch of these hospitals and it is inconceivable to me that they are being used as Hamas command centers,” he said.
“This propaganda has been repeated by our media, been repeated by our government, yet there is no verifiable, remotely credible evidence to support these contentions.”
The tribunal — chaired by Jeremy Corbyn MP, former leader of the governing Labour Party — is examining allegations of genocide, war crimes, and the UK’s involvement in atrocities committed in Gaza.
Corbyn opened the tribunal saying: “The truth needs to be told and information needs to be provided, and if Parliament won’t effectively inquire into what is going on, then the tribunal might be able to do so.”
Maynard said he had provided evidence to the UK government of deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure by Israel, and how bullet-wound patterns in children and teenagers brought to hospitals suggested they were being targeted.
“This daily clustering of injuries to particular body parts was beyond coincidence … It was clear evidence of target practice by Israeli soldiers on these young teenage boys,” he added.
The tribunal also heard testimony from Dr. Victoria Rose, a consultant plastic surgeon at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Rose, who has worked extensively treating people in Gaza, told the tribunal that she had been forced to operate on children less than 10 years old without anesthetic, and that Israel was blocking access to the enclave for up to 90 percent of medics, as well as confiscating supplies from those given approval to enter.
She said patients she had operated on included an 18-month-old with 15 percent burns across her body, and a 5-year-old who had her leg blown off.
Rose noted that food in the enclave was scarce, and that she had lost half a stone in less than a month while working there.
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, said UK government officials could be held responsible for failing to help end the occupation of Palestine by maintaining trade links, intelligence sharing and arms exports to Israel.
In June, the High Court in London ruled that the continued export of parts for the F-35 to Israel was lawful.
UK manufacturers are responsible for around 15 percent of parts that go into the elite jet fighter.
