The UK’s army collaboration with Israel throughout its assault on Gaza, in addition to its assist by means of arms provisions, logistical support, and direct army interventions in Yemen to assist Israel’s targets, might represent a breach of international law, a brand new report reveals.
The report, launched on Tuesday by the British Palestinian Committee (BPC), says whereas the UK authorities has not been straight perpetrating violence in Gaza, it has “performed an influential function” by means of the validation of arms licences and wider, deeper army collaboration with Israel.
UK-made F-35 parts, despatched on to Israel and different companion nations for meeting, have performed a major function in sustaining the Israeli jets for fight by contributing to the worldwide pool of spare elements, which Israel can entry.
In taking such actions, the UK will not be “merely failing to fulfill its third-party duties to uphold worldwide regulation”, it’s actively complicit in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian folks, the report stated.
Moreover, whereas the British army has provided Israel with these essential elements, it has additionally developed a deeper military collaboration with Israel.
“This two-way partnership helps Israeli firms within the improvement of know-how that’s used to kill Palestinians and deepens collaboration between the British and Israeli militaries,” the report stated, including that the British army bases in Cyprus have served as a “foundational asset” for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Alongside its direct army intervention in Yemen, the UK has protected Israel’s army infrastructure throughout its escalation towards Iran, the report stated, specializing in the UK’s army becoming a member of efforts to defend Israel’s army infrastructure from an anticipated Iranian response in April 2024.
This got here after Israel bombed an Iranian consulate constructing in Syria’s capital Damascus, killing at the least 13 folks, together with two Syrian civilians.
“UK ministers and officers know that the UK has obligations below worldwide regulation,” Sara Husseini, BPC director, instructed Al Jazeera.
“They’ve recognised that Israel’s unlawful occupation is ongoing and so they have been made conscious by the world’s highest courtroom that Israel’s actions in Gaza plausibly quantity to genocide.
“We’re, subsequently, calling on the federal government to instantly impose a two-way arms embargo, finish all types of army collaboration, and uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian folks. If not, the British authorities ought to face acceptable authorized penalties.”
UK’s official coverage, outlined in its Strategic Export Licensing Standards, says it is not going to grant an arms export licence “if it determines there’s a clear danger that the gadgets is likely to be used to commit or facilitate a severe violation of worldwide humanitarian regulation”, stated the group.
In April 2024, six months into the warfare on Gaza, then-Overseas Minister David Cameron stated the UK would not halt arms sales to Israel by British firms. He defended his resolution a month later by claiming that they characterize “lower than 1 %” of Israel’s arms imports.
In September 2024, the UK suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel, citing a “clear danger” that they could possibly be utilized in severe breaches of worldwide humanitarian regulation.
Since then, the British authorities has issued 34 arms export licences to Israel, together with three open licences which permit the export of a vast quantity and worth of products.
Within the 19-page report, the BPC concluded that the UK is legally obligated to take measures to forestall genocide and to prosecute people or entities answerable for committing such acts, each inside its personal jurisdiction and, the place possible, internationally.
The group additionally confused that the duty of states to forestall genocide is a proactive fairly than a passive motion and entails the idea of “due diligence”, necessitating an evaluation based mostly on factual proof.
In 2022, the UK provided 42 million kilos ($53m) price of arms to Israel, in accordance with media studies.
