UK Suspends Some Arms Sales to Israel

Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrives at Downing Street in London, England, on Aug. 6, 2024. James Manning/PA Wire

The UK’s foreign secretary has revealed the country will start suspending the sale of some arms to Israel over concerns that their use could be in breach of international humanitarian law.

In the Sept.2 Oral statement to the UK Parliament, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said only about 30 of 350 licenses would be immediately halted, following a review commissioned after the July election that saw the Labour Party take power.

“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,” he said.

The partial ban covers equipment that the review has assessed is being used in the current conflict in Gaza, such as essential components that go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters, drones, and technology for ground targeting.

According to Lammy, under the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, the UK government can’t “issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.”

Britain is not a major supplier of arms to Israel. In December of last year, during a debate about the supply of arms, former minister Greg Hands said the country’s military exports to Israel are relatively small, representing just 0.02 percent of Israel’s military imports overall.

The United States remains Israel’s most significant weapons supplier.

Lammy also stressed the suspension was not a blanket ban or an arms embargo, it was simply part of the government’s “legal duty to review export licences.”

“This Government is not an international court. We have not —and could not—arbitrate on whether or not Israel has breached international humanitarian law,” he said.

“This is a forward-looking evaluation, not a determination of innocence or guilt. And it does not prejudge any future determinations by the competent courts.”

Despite the action, Lammy said they were not trying to put pressure on Israel or in any way defend the actions of Hamas.

“There is no equivalence between Hamas terrorists and Israel’s democratic government—or indeed, Iran and their partners and proxies,” Lammy said.

“But to license arms exports to Israel, we must assess their compliance with international humanitarian law notwithstanding the abhorrence of their opponents’ tactics and ideology.”

Israel Minister of Defense slams sanctions

Minister of Defense for Israel and retired general Yoav Gallant said in a Sept. 3 post on social media platform X that the UK government’s sanctions have left him “deeply disheartened.”

“This comes at a time when we fight a war on 7 different fronts—a war that was launched by a savage terrorist organization, unprovoked,” he said.

“At a time when we mourn 6 hostages who were executed in cold blood by Hamas inside tunnels in Gaza.”

According to Gallant, Israel is still fighting to bring the remaining hostages held by Hamas home and remains “committed to defending the State of Israel and her people.”

Six hostages abducted alive by Hamas on Oct. 7 were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Sept. 1, shortly after terrorists murdered them, according to the Israel Defence Forces.