britain suspends some arms exports to israel over concerns about violating international law
2024-09-03
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xinhua news agency, beijing, september 3rd. british foreign secretary david lammy announced in the house of commons on the 2nd that the british government has determined that weapons containing british-made components exported to israel may be used in military operations in the gaza strip, which poses a risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law. therefore, the effectiveness of 30 arms export licenses to israel will be suspended from today. however, the uk still has more than 300 arms export licenses to israel that are still valid.
on august 31, people mourned their relatives and friends who died in the israeli bombing in nusayret refugee camp in central gaza strip. xinhua news agency (photo by marwan daoud)
export suspension
lamy said on the 2nd that he had informed british business and trade secretary jonathan reynolds to officially suspend the validity of 30 arms export licenses to israel on the same day, involving f-16 fighter jets, helicopters, drones and components of naval systems, as well as military products that assist in striking ground targets.
the uk has issued about 350 arms export licenses to israel, and the number announced to be suspended on the 2nd was less than one-tenth.
after the labour government came to power in july, lamy announced that it would review the uk's arms sales to israel to ensure that they comply with international law. lamy told mps in the house of commons on the 2nd of this month: "the assessment i received allows me to draw only one conclusion, that is, there is a clear risk that certain military products exported by the uk to israel could be used to commit or assist serious violations of international humanitarian law."
lamy stressed that this decision is not equivalent to an arms embargo, but only involves relevant weapons that may be used in a new round of palestinian-israeli conflict and will not have a substantial impact on israel's security.
he said that britain "has not and will not arbitrate on whether israel has violated international humanitarian law" and that britain recognizes israel's right to "self-defense," but "is deeply concerned about the methods used by israel, particularly the reported civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure."
many foreign media noted that lamy specifically mentioned that as long as the f-35 fighter parts manufactured by the uk are not directly shipped to israel, they will not be affected by the suspension of licenses. many organizations criticized the british government for not doing enough because the f-35 fighters are also widely used in the gaza strip.
sam perlow-freeman, research coordinator of the british non-governmental organization campaign against arms trade, said that he welcomed the british government's "belated" move that day, "finally taking action on the overwhelming evidence of israel's war crimes in the gaza strip, but exempting israeli f-35 fighter jet parts is completely intolerable and unreasonable."
symbolism
according to bloomberg news, the uk does not directly supply weapons to israel in the name of the country, and defense companies can only sell military products to israel with the permission of the british government. the military products sold by the uk to israel account for less than 1% of the total weapons imported by israel.
reuters analyzed information provided by the british government and found that since the new round of israeli-palestinian conflict broke out in october last year, the total value of products covered by arms export licenses issued by the uk to israel has plummeted by 95% to the lowest point in 13 years, many of which are "commercial" or non-lethal products, such as helmets or bulletproof vehicles.
israeli foreign minister israel katz and defense minister yoav galant expressed "disappointment" and "frustration" regarding the british decision on the 2nd.
many foreign media have noted that although british prime minister starmer led the labour party to a landslide victory in the july parliamentary election, some labour party candidates unexpectedly lost in constituencies with a large number of muslim residents in the uk because of his firm support for israel in this round of the israeli-palestinian conflict. some labour party members urged starmer to take a tougher stance against israel.
both the associated press and bloomberg pointed out that although the uk's arms sales to israel are not as large as those of the united states and germany, as one of israel's closest allies, the uk's suspension of arms sales licenses has a certain symbolic significance. military reporters at israel's channel 13 are worried that if other allies of israel follow the uk's example, it will have a more serious impact on israel.
according to data released by the health department of the gaza strip, israel's military operations in the gaza strip have caused the deaths of more than 40,000 palestinians and injured more than 93,000 since the outbreak of this round of palestinian-israeli conflict.
source: xinhua news agency
editor: liu juan
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