The left-wing Labour Party government in Britain announced Monday that it will be suspending dozens of arms export licences to Israel over concerns of UK weaponry being used to violate human rights in Gaza.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the House of Commons that the British government will be suspending 30 of its 350 arms export licences to Israel, including UK-made components used in military drones, helicopters, and aircraft, including fighter jets used by the Israelis.
The move comes after months of protests by left-wing activists and a two-month review conducted by the Foreign Office, The Guardian reports. While the review did not find that British arms exports had contributed to destruction in Gaza, the government found that there was a “clear risk” that they could be used in violations of international humanitarian laws.
Announcing the move, Foreign Secretary Lammy told Parliament: “Facing a conflict such as this, it is this Government’s legal duty to review export licences.
“It is with regret that I inform the House today the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
Lammy claimed, however, that the move to cut around 10 per cent of arms licences to Israel, did not represent an “arms embargo” to the Jewish state.
The move comes in the aftermath of the discovery of the bodies of six dead hostages in a Gaza tunnel over the weekend. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that the hostages, who were taken captive by Hamas terrorists during the October 7th attacks on Israel, were killed by Hamas as Israeli forces were closing in on their position so as to prevent their rescue.
Following the discovery of the dead hostages, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer doubled down on his demands that Jerusalem come to a ceasefire deal with Hamas “immediately”.
The announcement of the suspension of some arms export deals with Israel also comes as Starmer’s predecessor at the head of the Labour Party, 75-year-old socialist Jeremy Corbyn formed an “independent alliance” of pro-Gaza MPs.
Corbyn, who was ousted from the party at the behest of Starmer over accusations of failing to confront antisemitism within Labour during his reign, said Monday that he would be banding together with fellow independent MPs Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed under a pro-Gaza banner. Corbyn has previously faced criticism for describing Hamas as his “brothers” on Iranian state television.
In a statement, the new parliamentary group said per the Daily Mail: “Millions of people are crying out for a real alternative to austerity, inequality and war – and their voices deserve to be heard,’ they said.
“As individuals we were voted by our constituents to represent their concerns in Parliament on these matters, and more, and we believe that as a collective group we can carry on doing this with greater effect.”
While relatively small in number in terms of MPs, the new group will likely increase pressure on Starmer, whose party has seen defections within the Muslim community — a key voting base for Labour — over his initially moderate stance on Israel’s response to the October 7th terror attacks.