People take part in a pro-Palestine protest, organised by London for a Free Palestine, outside the Department of Business and Trade in Old Admiralty Building, central London, March 28, 2024
AS THE death toll in Gaza tops 33,000, calls are mounting for an ethics probe into whether Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron and Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch are violating the ministerial code over Britain’s arms sales to Israel.
MPs have faced increasing calls to stop arms sales after three British aid workers were killed in an attack by Israeli forces on Monday.
Campaign Against Arms Trade says the engine of the drone used in the attack was produced in Britain by UAV Engines.
More than 600 lawyers signed a letter warning Britain to suspend the sales, or risk committing serious violations of international humanitarian law.
It added that nationals responsible for aiding and abetting international crimes are liable for prosecution.
In January, documents filed in High Court showed that Lord Cameron recommended British arms sales to Israel despite “serious concerns” in the Foreign Office that it had breached international law.
The document was filed in defence to a challenge by Global Action Network and Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, which said Britain had a “legal and moral obligation” to not grant the exports.
Human rights groups say UK is ignoring its own rules on arms exports after hundreds of Palestinians killed
Campaigners block the road in East London outside the DSEI arms fair Photo: @CAATuk / Twitter
The UK government has no plans to suspend arms sales to Israel, despite human rights campaigners warning its exports have been used to kill civilians, openDemocracy has been told.
The UK has approved millions of pounds worth of licences for military equipment to Israeli forces since 2015. They include components for F-35 fighter jets, which can deliver ground strikes and have been recently pictured in social media posts from the Israeli Air Force.
In response to Hamas’ attack on Israel which killed hundreds of civilians, Israeli forces have fired thousands of bombs into Gaza since 7 October. As of yesterday, 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza strip, according to the Palestinian health ministry. This figure was given before an attack on al-Ahli Arab hospital that reportedly killed 500 people.
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, warned last week that “Palestinians are in grave danger of mass ethnic cleansing”.
openDemocracy asked the Department of Business and Trade if it would suspend and review its export licences for arms to Israel in light of the reported civilian killings. In response, the department said the licences were “under continual review” but there were “no immediate plans to stop arms export licences to Israel”.
Emily Apple, media coordinator for the Campaign Against the Arm Trade, said: “It is disgusting that the Department for Business and Trade is refusing to suspend and review arms licences to Israel given the mounting evidence of war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.
“UK industry is responsible for 15% of the components used in the F35 stealth combat aircraft that are being used in airstrikes, and the UK is therefore complicit in war crimes committed by the Israeli government.”
Any UK company wishing to export military goods to other nations must apply for a licence to do so. The government has a number of criteria that must be met before licences can be granted.
One of the criteria is to “not grant a licence if [the department] determines there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
Officials are also told not to grant licences if there is a “likelihood that the items would be used in the territory of another country other than for legitimate purposes including national or collective self defence”.
The campaign group Palestine Action, which has taken direct action in the UK against Israeli arms company Elbit, said it was “no surprise” that the UK government is continuing to allow arms exports.
“Numerous weapons factories, including ones owned by Israel’s largest weapons firm, continue to operate on our doorsteps, who market their weapons as “battle-tested” on the captive population of Gaza,” a spokesperson for the group said.
The UK has in the past paused export licences in response to reports that its criteria may have been breached.
In 2019, the then foreign secretary Dominic Raab suspended arms exports to NATO ally Turkey after it invaded Syria, on the grounds that it risked worsening the humanitarian crisis in the country.
The UK revoked some arms licences to Israel in 2009 after hundreds of Palestinians were killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces. During the 2o14 conflict, the government warned it would suspend licences again if hostilities continued, but ultimately did not go-ahead with the decision.
The decision to continue supplying arms to Israel comes after MPs and campaign groups raised concerns about a growing lack of transparency from the government over exports licences.
In October, an enquiry led by MPs found that despite pledges from the government to improve transparency “progress has been limited” and that “there is a worrying lack of openness and data on compliance”.
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade told openDemocracy that there is a “disturbing lack of transparency over arms sales to Israel”.
“The UK government has hidden behind exemptions and refused to supply CAAT with data regarding recent exports by Elbit subsidiaries, and a large proportion of UK sales are hidden by open export licences where it is impossible to monitor the amount of weapons sold,” it said.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, urged the government to reverse its decision to continue supplying Israel with arms.
“The UK’s arms export system is based on the principle of avoiding a clear risk of British weapons being used to commit serious violations of international law. There’s mounting evidence that Israel’s military conduct in Gaza during the last week has included indiscriminate attacks which have killed and injured large numbers of Palestinian civilians.
“The government needs to follow its own rules and urgently suspend export licences for all arms transfers to Israel that risk being used to commit further unlawful attacks.”
Campaigners slam Western governments for continuing to arm Israel as Palestinians in Gaza search desperately for food, water and shelter amid the bombs
Campaigners block the road in East London outside the DSEI arms fair Photo: @CAATuk / Twitter
ACTIVISTS have slammed the scheduled visit of United States President Joe Biden to Israel on Wednesday as the relentless bombardment of Gaza leaves Palestinians searching desperately for food, water and shelter.
The visit was announced just as Iran issued a stern warning to the Israelis that it may intervene in the conflict.
Israel bombed areas of southern Gaza where it had previously told Palestinians to flee, killing dozens of people on Tuesday.
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British companies provide 15 per cent of the components for the F-35 stealth combat aircraft that Israel is currently using in the bombardment of Gaza, in contracts worth £336 million, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said.
The group is demanding the government revoke all licences for arms exports and is backing calls from Palestine trade unions for workers to refuse to build or export weapons to Israel.
CAAT’s Emily Apple said: “There should be no hierarchy when it comes to the killing of civilians.
“However, in continuing to arm Israel, this government is showing that it does not value Palestinian lives.
“Through its arms sales, and particularly through the supply of components for the F-35s, the UK is complicit in war crimes in Gaza.
ACTIVISTS protested today outside Twickenham rugby stadium, where “human rights-abusing nations” were taking part in an armoured vehicle trade fair.
About 70 people took part in the demonstration in south-west London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and supported by Campaign Against Arms Trade.
The local PSC group said that Israeli defence ministers were among the delegates at the International Armoured Vehicles (IAV) 2023 fair, along wth representatives of Israeli weapons giant Elbit Systems.
Also among the attendees was Italian arms firm Leonardo, part of a consortium of firms producing the Typhoon jets used by Saudi Arabia in its war on Yemen, according to the fair’s events programme.
