Report: British government will stop arms sales to Israel ‘soon’

According to Israeli and British media reports, the British government is considering stopping arms supplies to Israel as early as Tuesday due to fears that Israel is violating international law in its war against Gaza.

The possibility has angered the Israeli government, according to the British newspaper The Telegraphwho cited unnamed Israeli sources.

The decision follows the decision by Sir Keir Starmer’s new Labour government earlier this month to resume aid to the UN’s Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.

If the arms sales are suspended, it would be a significant departure from the previous Conservative government, which came under pressure to halt arms sales after three British aid workers were killed in an Israeli drone strike in Gaza. But then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron insisted that Israel was not violating international humanitarian law.

The British government had already suspended the sale during previous Israeli offensives, dating back to 1982, when Beirut was subjected to a large-scale siege by the Israeli military.

The report comes after a leading human rights lawyer said Britain must halt arms sales to Israel to ensure compliance with the recent International Court of Justice ruling declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip violated international law and ordered that Israel immediately cease and withdraw all settlement activities.

Professor Philipe Sands, a member of the Palestinian legal team in the ICJ case, said The guard that Britain should stop supplying arms to Israel in order to comply with the court ruling of 19 July that UN member states “should not provide any aid or assistance to maintain the situation created by the illegal presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories”.

Sands, who teaches law at University College London, said the recommendation “excludes the sale of military material that could be used directly or indirectly to assist Israel in maintaining its illegal occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice was a scathing verdict on Israel’s 57-year-old occupation of Palestinian territory, which it described as an “apartheid system” in the occupied West Bank. It came as Israel’s brutal offensive against Gaza is entering its tenth month.

The Gaza war has renewed attention to Israel’s discriminatory and aggressive policies against the Palestinians and led to accusations that Israel has committed crimes against humanity.

As the war progressed, calls increased for the British government to stop supplying weapons or weapon components to Israel, fearing that these could be used by the Israeli army or air force in their attack on Gaza.

According to human rights groups, the government has approved more than $614 million worth of arms sales to Israel since 2015 under so-called individual licenses, while companies export larger quantities under open licenses.

Israel’s Foreign Minister David Lammy said earlier this month that his office was conducting a “comprehensive review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.”

During his time in opposition, Lammy called on the then Conservative government to stop arms sales to Israel, particularly after the Israeli drone strike that killed three British aid workers in the Gaza Strip.

In another case before the International Court of Justice, Israel is facing allegations brought by South Africa that it committed genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza war.

The ICJ has been investigating Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories since 2022 following a UN General Assembly resolution that came about after Palestine was entitled to participate in the UN General Assembly.

The new Labour government has not yet issued a formal response to the ruling, saying it will be carefully examined.

The UN General Assembly is expected to vote on the outcome in the coming months. Britain has previously been accused of opposing the ICJ’s hearing of the case on Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Last August, Britain filed a detailed legal opinion against the case, which was condemned by Palestinian representatives and international humanitarian lawyers.

Sands, an author of books on genocide and war crimes, said Britain should not vote against the ICJ’s opinion “as long as the government sticks to its word and respects international law”.

The Labour-led government has committed to recognizing a Palestinian state but has not given a timetable.

In a speech to the House of Commons on July 18, Lammy said Palestinians had been “in purgatory for decades” and had been “denied the state to which they have an inalienable right”.