Britain has suspended 30 arms export licenses to Israel on the grounds that its weapons could be used to violate human rights.
According to international media reports, the British government says it is suspending some arms exports to Israel because of the risk they could be used to violate international law.
David Lemmy says there is a “clear risk” that some of the items could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law. And this was not an arms embargo, we do not take this decision lightly.
The British Foreign Minister further said that some weapons were feared to be used in human rights violations, the sale of such goods that could be used in Gaza has been stopped, the list of prohibited goods also includes parts of airplanes and drones. This decision is not a total ban on arms sales to Israel, our actions will not affect Israeli security, F-35 aircraft parts are not included in the list of restrictions.
Britain is among a number of long-standing allies of Israel whose governments are under increasing pressure to freeze arms exports due to the 11-month-old war in Gaza, with British companies selling relatively small amounts of weapons and parts to Israel. Earlier this year, the government said military exports to Israel were 42 million pounds ($53 million) in 2022.
Britain’s centre-left Labor government, elected in July, is facing pressure from some of its own members and lawmakers to put more pressure on Israel to end the violence, in a departure from the stance of its conservative predecessor, Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The government said in July that Britain would not interfere with an application by the International Criminal Court for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.