London (National Times) The United Kingdom says it will suspend 30 out of 350 arms exports licences to Israel, citing a \u201cclear risk\u201d they could be used in serious breaches of international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament on Monday that the partial ban covers items \u201cwhich could be used in the current conflict in Gaza\u201d against Hamas but did not include parts for F-35 fighter jets.
He said the decision to suspend the licences did not amount to a blanket ban or an arms embargo, adding that the UK continues to support Israel\u2019s right to self-defence in accordance with international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after the Labour Party won the general election in July, Lammy said he would update a review on arms sales to Britain\u2019s ally Israel to ensure they complied with international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt 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,\u201d Lammy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that his country was \u201cdisappointed by a series of decisions\u201d made by the British government, including the decision regarding defence exports.
Katz said the move \u201csends a very problematic message\u201d to the Palestinian group Hamas and its patrons in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hassan Barari, an international affairs professor at Qatar University, said the UK\u2019s decision is \u201cvery important\u201d since it has supported Israel\u2019s right to defend itself since October 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut there is a deception here because there is a huge difference between a right to defend yourself and the genocide that Israel has been doing, so we haven\u2019t heard from the British government a critique or criticism of what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza. But, anyway, I think it\u2019s a good step,\u201d Barari told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barari said this action is important because it serves as a \u201creminder to everyone, the international community, there is a need to do something to tell the Israelis they cannot continue the war unchecked in this way\u201d.
British exports amount to less than 1 percent of the total arms Israel receives, and Lammy told parliament the suspension would not have a material impact on Israel\u2019s security.
Among the items that will come under the suspension will be components for military aircraft, including fighter jets, helicopters and drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike the United States, Britain\u2019s government does not give arms directly to Israel but rather issues licences for companies to sell weapons with input from lawyers on whether they comply with international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Samuel Perlo-Freeman of the Campaign Against Arms Trade told Al Jazeera the UK\u2019s move was \u201ca cautiously welcome step\u201d which was \u201cnot good enough\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe government has acknowledged for the first time that Israel is not complying with international law and made some moves in direction of acting upon that,\u201d he said from Dundee in Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that there was \u201cone huge, huge loophole\u201d in the UK\u2019s move: that components for the F-35 fighter jets can still be supplied to Israel.
\u201cWe 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. So saying that you\u2019re going to stop arms that might be used in Gaza except for the F-35 is a bit like saying you\u2019re going vegetarian except for bacon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London (National Times) The United Kingdom says it will suspend 30 out of 350 arms exports licences to Israel, citing a \u201cclear risk\u201d they could be used in serious breaches of international humanitarian law. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament on Monday that the partial ban covers items \u201cwhich could be used in the current […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n