Sept. 4 (UPI) — Britain pushed back against criticism of a ban on some arms sales to Israel over fears they could be used in Gaza to violate international humanitarian law, insisting the United Kingdom stood fully behind Israel and that its security would not be compromised by the ban.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the suspension of export licenses for 30 out of 350 categories of military goods just days after Hamas executed six hostages as a “shameful” decision that would embolden Hamas, but British Defense Secretary John Healey told the BBC on Tuesday that Britain remained a “staunch ally” of Israel.
Healey said that while seeing the faces of the dead hostages was “agonizing,” the timing of the partial military equipment export ban announced Monday by Foreign Secretary David Lammy was dictated by “legal process” and the requirement to report to Parliament.
The suspended licenses, covering a small number of goods including parts for fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, were selected, Healey said, because they supported other equipment used for “offensive purposes” in Gaza, as opposed to the “vast majority of other parts our country exports to Israel either not related to the conflict or maybe used for Israel’s defense”.
However, the decision also came under fire from the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom and human rights campaigners for not going far enough and for loopholes, including exempting parts for F-35 combat aircraft being flown by the Israeli Air Force to attack targets in Gaza.
Palestinian Ambassador to the U.K. Husam Zomlot said while suspending the export licenses was a significant move, Britain was still failing in its legal obligation to meet the standards required by domestic and international law.
“It is only through a full arms embargo, sanctions and the equal application of international law that we can rein in the unhinged Netanyahu,” Zomlot wrote in a post on X.
Amnesty International U.K. criticized the British government’s justification of the ban as being necessary due to a “risk” that Israel could use arms in violation of international law.
“It’s not just a ‘risk’ of war crimes being committed by Israeli authorities, there is considerable evidence,” it said in a post on X.
Monday’s partial export ban came five months after more than 600 British lawyers, academics and members of the judiciary, including three former high court judges, urged then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to suspend Israel arms sales to “avoid complicity in serious breaches of International Humanitarian Law.”
As a signatory of the 1948 Genocide Convention, they argued Britain must stop the weapons sales in light of the International Court of Justice’s Jan. 26 provisional finding of “plausible risk of genocide” by Israel in Gaza.
However, the ban ultimately imposed was limited to meeting Britain’s commitment to “avoid the risk that U.K. exports could be used in IHL violations in the Gaza conflict,” according to Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
That meant trainer aircraft and naval equipment being excluded on grounds they were not relevant to the Gaza conflict.
British-made parts for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 were also exempted, the government explained, because they form part of an international supply chain for a joint strike fighter program supporting 20 air forces around the world that fly the fighter jet, meaning banning their export could cause shortages for all.
In a statement in which he re-iterated Britain’s continued support of Israel’s right to defend itself, Lammy said that it was with “regret” that he had to inform Parliament of the suspension.