Rishi Sunak is facing growing pressure to immediately suspend arms sales to Israel as opposition grows over Israeli civilian deaths in its war with Hamas.
The prime minister faces calls from Conservative dignitaries, hundreds of lawyers, dozens of MPs and peers and senior military commanders from across the political spectrum to stop arms exports to the country.
Sunak has also been urged to exert British influence on Israel to force the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to change its approach to the invasion.
Days after seven aid workers, three of them British, were massacred, independent Join the call for an end to arms sales to Israel.
Former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said the UK must suspend arms sales to Israel unless there are urgent changes in the conduct of the IDF.
The former cabinet minister said the UK should stop supplying arms to the country unless it provides the UK and other supporters with “credible evidence” that Israel is changing its instructions to its troops.
“The issue is the instructions given to the military as to how much care must be taken to avoid mistakes or collateral damage,” he told The Independent.
“It is difficult to believe that the rules of engagement used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), not only in this incident but increasingly over the past few weeks, meet the standards that should be applied.”
The Tory boss said without evidence of a change in attitudes there was “almost no justification for continuing to help them with arms”.
The government does not provide weapons directly to Israel. Instead, it grants export licenses to British companies to sell weapons to the country and can block those sales by suspending the licenses.
Britain has participated in the course twice before. Margaret Thatcher’s government suspended arms exports after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, while Tony Blair’s government blocked some sales of military equipment in 2002.
Sir Malcolm, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, said if Israel was not prepared to change course, “then there have to be consequences”.
But the former defense minister dismissed as “nonsense” claims that Israel was deliberately targeting civilians or aid workers.
He said the country was “zealous” to eliminate every Hamas terrorist and “the precautions any military must take to avoid collateral damage are not as stringent as they should be”.
Layla Moran, whose family just fled Gaza after being trapped in the war-torn region for months, told reporters independent A UK arms export suspension would send a “powerful message”.
“This sends a strong message not only to the United States but also to the Israeli government that it cannot do so without consequences if it violates international humanitarian law,” the British-born Palestinian Liberal Democrats said.
“It will also send a message to those Israelis who resist Netanyahu that the international community will no longer allow Israel to break the law with impunity.”
Ms Moran also called for an “immediate bilateral ceasefire so that no one is harmed, British or non-British”, adding: “This is the only direct answer to stop the killing at the moment.
“There has now been a huge change in British public opinion, but it should not have been the loss of life of brave British aid workers and tens of thousands of Gazans that allowed this to happen.”
The former British army chief has joined politicians in the criticism, calling on Rishi Sunak to “look very carefully” at British sales to Israel.
General Sir Richard Dannatt said ministers should be “careful” to ensure Britain’s defense equipment relationship with the country complies with international law.
Former army chief told independent The Prime Minister should note that “a large number of legal professionals have raised concerns about this”.
But Lord Dannatt added that this was “not just a legal question, it is a moral question and we need to think carefully about whether we are on the right side of the ethical line in this regard”.
“There is no doubt that from a war perspective, Israel has the right to decide to launch an offensive against Hamas,” he said.
But he added: “What is unconscionable is the way they behave, they kill too many people and too many innocent Gaza citizens indulge in attempts to kill Hamas terrorists.”
Before Sir Malcolm and Lord Dannatt intervened, former M16 leader Sir Alex Younger said the deaths of aid workers showed Israel was using “systemic targeting” and risked accidentally killing innocent people.
He said Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was in danger of squandering Israel’s right to claim a “moral purpose” over “reckless” killings in its war with Hamas.
Sir Alex told BBC Radio 4 today Podcast: “My view is that what happened was systemic in nature—a targeting that bordered on reckless at times and therefore fundamentally undermined Israel’s political goal of maintaining some moral high ground and moral purpose.”
More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court president Lady Hale, have signed a letter to the prime minister warning the government that continued arms exports to Israel could breach international law.
The signatories said the deteriorating situation in Gaza, coupled with the International Court of Justice’s conclusion that there was a “possible risk of genocide”, had forced the UK to suspend arms sales to the country. Palestinian health officials say nearly 33,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far. More than 200 rescue workers died.
Former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption is one of the signatories. He told Sky News: “The key to the obligation to prevent genocide is that you have to take steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen, or that it doesn’t continue.
“It is therefore clear that supplying weapons to Israel is inconsistent with our obligations.”
Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy urged the government to publish any legal advice it has received about whether Israel has breached international law and to suspend arms sales if there is a risk that the weapons could be used in “serious breaches of international law”. Humanitarian Law”. The Scottish National Party and the Lib Dems have also called for a moratorium on arms exports.
Labor MP and former MP Dr Roseanne Allin-Khan said Israel’s killing and destruction in Gaza was “indiscriminate” and “appalling to witness”.
she told independent: “The UK has a responsibility to abide by international law and ensure that weapons made in the UK are not used to kill innocent civilians. As if the deaths of countless women and children were not incomprehensible enough, but now that I think about it, it is incomprehensible that such weapons may be used against British nationals.
Sir Alan Duncan, who was minister between 2010 and 2019, strongly condemned Israel’s killing of aid workers as “callous” and expressed the concerns of Tories. Conservative MPs Frick Drummond and David Jones also called on the government to suspend the armed forces.
On Tuesday, Downing Street declined to say whether it considered Israel’s actions to be consistent with international humanitarian law, saying it would not comment on legal advice but added that ministers acted in accordance with the advice.
Israel’s most senior military officer has apologized for the “serious mistakes” he made following the murders of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.
British victims John Chapman, 57, James “Jim” Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, all WCK Member of the security team.
They died along with Jacob Flickinger, 33, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen. Australian national Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom, 43, captain of the rescue team; Polish national Damian Sobol, 35; and Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israel Defense Forces attacked the aid convoy because officials believed an armed Hamas member was traveling with the convoy, but no such person was actually traveling with the aid workers.
An Israeli military source told the media that the attack was not a problem of poor coordination, but because “each commander made his own rules.”
The charity had just unloaded 100 tons of food aid on a barge from Cyprus when Israel attacked their convoy on the Gaza coastal road in Deir al-Balah. WCK said on Tuesday it was suspending all work in the occupied Palestinian territories.
WCK said its convoy of three vehicles was attacked despite the charity coordinating its operations with the Israeli military, and that two of the vehicles attacked were clearly marked as aid vehicles.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron called on Israel to “immediately investigate”, adding that the government wanted “a full and transparent explanation of what happened”.
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