The British government is under mounting pressure to suspend arms sales to Israel after a convoy strike in Gaza killed seven aid workers, including three Britons. More than 600 lawyers and retired judges have written to the government, arguing that the sales violate international law.
Citing the risk of starvation among Palestinians, a possible Israeli military attack on the town of Rafah and the UN’s top court finding that there was a “reasonable risk” of genocide in Gaza, the lawyers urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to “suspend the supply of arms and weapons systems » in Israel.
“Serious action,” concluded the 17-page letter sent on Wednesday, “is necessary to prevent the UK from becoming complicit in serious violations of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention.”
Among the signatories is Brenda Hale, former Chief Justice of Britain. Jonathan Sumption and Nicholas Wilson, former judges at the court. and dozens of the country’s most prominent lawyers.
Mr. Sunak has hardened his criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war in recent weeks, while taking no punitive action. On Tuesday, he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy, in which the three Britons were killed, was “terrible”.
But Mr. Sunak has given no signal that he is considering ending arms sales. Speaking to The Sun, a London tabloid, on Wednesday, he said: “We have always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to. There is a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we will always follow.”
Britain’s arms trade with Israel is nowhere near that of the United States. Grant Shapps, the defense secretary, told Parliament that British exports to Israel totaled 42 million pounds ($53 million) in 2022, a figure he described as “relatively small.” It sells parts for military aircraft, assault rifles and explosive devices. Under a 10-year agreement reached in 2016, the United States provides $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel.
However, the strike on the aid convoy has sparked outrage across Britain, dominating the front pages of newspapers and television news. The family of one of the three British victims, John Chapman, said in a statement: “He died trying to help people and suffered an inhumane act.”
Britain summoned Israel’s ambassador to lodge a formal complaint and called for an investigation into the strike, which Mr Netanyahu described as a tragic accident in the fog of war.
This explanation is unlikely to appease the growing chorus of condemnation. Several members of Parliament from Mr Sunak’s Conservative Party have also called for arms sales to be halted, as has Peter Ricketts, who was national security adviser to David Cameron, the current foreign secretary, when he was prime minister.
“Sometimes in a conflict you find a moment when there is such global outrage that it crystallizes the sense that things cannot go on like this,” Mr Ricketts told the BBC on Wednesday. “I hope this awful incident will serve that purpose.”
Mr Cameron, who was in Brussels on Thursday for a second day of meetings of NATO foreign ministers, said Israel not only needed to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, but also ensure convoys could take it to the entire pocket. with no further fatalities.
“Britain will be watching very closely to make sure that happens,” Mr Cameron told reporters on Wednesday.
The Labor Party, which holds a double-digit lead over the Conservatives in opinion polls, said Britain should suspend arms sales if Israel is found to have violated international law. “I have to say I have very serious concerns,” David Lammy, the party’s shadow foreign secretary, told reporters.
