“Other countries are taking action. The most recent example of this is Canada, where last week the government announced it is halting arms sales to Israel.”
Dear Foreign Secretary and Business Secretary,
We write as cross-party parliamentarians calling on you to immediately suspend export licenses for arms transfers to Israel.
The case for this is overwhelming. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault, 70% women and children. Israeli bombing has destroyed or severely damaged up to 80% of civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, schools and sanitation facilities.[1] Famine is now imminent in northern Gaza, with children already dying of hunger.[2]
The United Nations Secretary-General, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others have said that Israel has committed grave violations of international law in this assault.[3] The International Court of Justice has said that Israel’s assault is “plausibly” in breach of the Genocide Convention.
In this context, ‘business as usual’ for UK arms exports to Israel is totally unacceptable. Both domestic and international law, including Criterion 1 and 2 of the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria and Articles 6 and 7 of the international Arms Trade Treaty, require the government to prevent the transfer of military equipment where there is a clear or overriding risk that such exports might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law.
But UK-made weapons are being used in Gaza. For example, the government grants export licences for parts of Israeli F-16 fighter jets. According to a United Nations investigation, it was likely one of these jets – made with UK parts – that, in January, bombed British doctors at a compound in Gaza housing an emergency medical team from the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians.[4]
In previous escalations of the conflict, UK governments have admitted that UK-made arms could have been used by Israel in Gaza. In 2009, under a Labour government, the UK suspended arms licenses for equipment likely to be used in Gaza.[5] In 2014, under a Conservative-led government, the UK said it would suspend licenses if hostilities resumed in Gaza.[6]
Today, the scale of violence committed by the Israeli military is vastly more deadly, but the UK government has failed to act.
Other countries are taking action. The most recent example of this is Canada, where last week the government announced it is halting arms sales to Israel.[7] This follows United Nations experts calling for arms exports to Israel to be immediately stopped.[8]
We therefore call on you to immediately suspend export licenses for arms transfers to Israel.
Yours sincerely,
Zarah Sultana MP
Diane Abbott MP
Debbie Abrahams MP
Tahir Ali MP
Rosena Allin-Khan MP
Hannah Bardell MP
Apsana Begum MP
Mhairi Black MP
Ian Blackford MP
Kirsty Blackman MP
Olivia Blake MP
Steven Bonnar MP
Ben Bradshaw MP
Deidre Brock MP
Alan Brown MP
Richard Burgon MP
Dawn Butler MP
Ian Byrne MP
Amy Callaghan MP
Dan Carden MP
Wendy Chamberlain MP
Douglas Chapman MP
Joanna Cherry MP
Daisy Cooper MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Ronnie Cowan MP
Angela Crawley MP
Martyn Day MP
Marsha de Cordova MP
Martin Docherty-Hughes MP
Dave Doogan MP
Allan Dorans MP
Colum Eastwood MP
Julie Elliott MP
Stephen Farry MP
Marion Fellows MP
Stephen Flynn MP
Richard Foord MP
Mary Kelly Foy MP
Barry Gardiner MP
Patricia Gibson MP
Patrick Grady MP
Peter Grant MP
Sarah Green MP
Margaret Greenwood MP
Paulette Hamilton MP
Claire Hanna MP
Neale Hanvey MP
Drew Hendry MP
Wera Hobhouse MP
Kate Hollern MP
Stewart Hosie MP
Rupa Huq MP
Imran Hussain MP
Kim Johnson MP
Afzal Khan MP
Ben Lake MP
Ian Lavery MP
Chris Law MP
Clive Lewis MP
David Linden MP
Rebecca Long Bailey MP
Caroline Lucas MP
Kenny MacAskill MP
Angus MacNeil MP
Khalid Mahmood MP
Rachael Maskell MP
Andy McDonald MP
Stuart C McDonald MP
John McDonnell MP
Anne McLaughlin MP
John McNally MP
Ian Mearns MP
Carol Monaghan MP
Grahame Morris MP
Gavin Newlands MP
Charlotte Nichols MP
John Nicolson MP
Brendan O’Hara MP
Kate Osborne MP
Jess Phillips MP
Anum Qaisar MP
Yasmin Qureshi MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP
Liz Saville Roberts MP
Naz Shah MP
Tommy Sheppard MP
Cat Smith MP
Alyn Smith MP
Chris Stephens MP
Jamie Stone MP
Sam Tarry MP
Alison Thewliss MP
Owen Thompson MP
Richard Thomson MP
Stephen Timms MP
Jon Trickett MP
Valerie Vaz MP
Claudia Webbe MP
Philippa Whitford MP
Mick Whitley MP
Nadia Whittome MP
Hywel Williams MP
Munira Wilson MP
Beth Winter MP
Pete Wishart MP
Mohammad Yasin MP
Lord John Alderdice
Baroness Catherine Bakewell
Baroness Natalie Bennett
Baroness Tessa Blackstone
Baroness Christine Blower
Baroness Pauline Bryan
Baroness Lorely Burt
Lord Michael Cashman
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti
Baroness Katy Clark
Lord Peter Hain
Baroness Angela Harris
Lord John Hendy
Baroness Fiona Hodgson
Lord Qurban Hussain
Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece
Baroness Barbara Janke
Lord John Kerr
Baroness Ruth Lister
Baroness Susan Miller
Baroness Nosheena Mobarik
Lord Sandwich
Lord Jonathan Oates
Lord Prem Sikka
Lord Indarjit Singh
Baroness Manzila Uddin
Lord Norman Warner
- Zarah Sultana is the MP for Coventry South, you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
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