Will the new British Labour government stop arms sales to Israel? | News on the Israel-Palestine conflict

As the US clears the way for $20 billion worth of arms sales to Israel, pressure has mounted on Britain to halt such arms sales amid reports that some sales may be restricted in the coming months.

According to official figures, between October 7, when Israel began its war on Gaza, and the end of May, Britain issued more than 100 export licences to sell arms and military equipment to Israel. The value of these deals was not disclosed.

However, between 2008 and the end of 2023, Britain issued export licenses for arms deals with Israel worth £576 million ($740 million). The total value of arms deals approved in 2023 is estimated at £18.2 million – still far less than the more than £200 million approved in 2017.

Pro-Palestinian activists called on the Israeli government to stop selling weapons to Israel, as Israel’s war on Gaza has already claimed nearly 40,000 lives and thousands more are missing or presumed dead under the rubble of buildings. More than 92,000 people have been injured.

Nevertheless, the previous Conservative government, which lost power to Labour in a landslide election in July, concluded in May that there was no reason to suspend arms exports.

Referring to UK arms export regulations, it says that export licences should not be issued if there is a “clear risk” that they would “facilitate a serious breach of international humanitarian law”. However, there is no evidence of this.

However, since the Labour Party came to power, its stance on the Gaza war has differed from that of its predecessor party.

In recent weeks, Israeli and British news agencies have reported that Britain may be close to announcing a partial suspension of arms exports to Israel.

Here’s what we know so far:

What does the UK supply to Israel?

The government does not provide military aid to Israel, but instead grants licenses to British companies to sell weapons.

Former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in December last year – two months after the start of the Gaza war – that British exports of military goods to Israel were “relatively small”, amounting to £42 million ($53.2 million) in 2022 and £18 million ($22.8 million) in 2023.

By comparison, the US provides Israel with $3 billion in annual military aid under a 10-year agreement. In November, the US approved an additional $14.5 billion military aid package for Israel after the war in Gaza broke out on October 7.

The Stockholm Peace Research Institute estimates that US exports account for 69 percent of Israel’s total arms imports.

In Europe, Germany, the second largest military aid donor to Israel after the United States, exported weapons worth 326.5 million euros (354 million dollars) to Israel in 2023, ten times more than the previous year.

What types of weapons does the UK sell to Israel?

British exports include explosive devices, assault rifles and components for F-35 fighter jets.

Research by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has found that the UK produces “at least 15 percent of the value” of all F-35 fighter jets manufactured in the US.

“This includes critical elements such as the rear fuselage, targeting lasers, bomb release mechanisms and critical electronic systems,” the UK-based campaign group said at X in late July.

For the 39 F-35s delivered to Israel since 2016, there are “at least £364 million worth of British components, not including spare parts. The aircraft still on order plus ongoing support are likely to be worth that much again,” the group added.

The F-35 is the clearest evidence that British arms exports are directly linked to the genocide in Gaza. They could not fly without continued support from the UK and US. It is essential to stop the supply of British parts to the Israeli F-35s, both new aircraft and spare parts.

— CAAT (@CAATuk) July 29, 2024

What has the new British government said about arms exports?

In the run-up to the general election on 4 July, then Shadow Foreign Secretary – now Foreign Secretary – David Lammy called on the Conservative government to publish the legal advice it had received regarding the granting of export licenses to Israel.

The government responded at the time that ministers’ legal advice was confidential.

In a recording leaked to the British newspaper The Observer, Alicia Kearns, a Conservative and then chair of the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said at a party fundraiser in late March that government lawyers had concluded that Israel had violated international humanitarian law, but the government had not disclosed its findings.

Following the attack on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy in Gaza in April, which killed seven aid workers, including three Britons, Kearns told BBC Radio 4 that Britain had “no choice but to stop arms sales” to Israel.

“Legal advice is advisory in nature, so the government can choose to refuse it. However, UK arms export licences require the recipient to comply with international humanitarian law,” Kearns said.

However, the government at the time still did not suspend arms exports to Israel.

Since becoming foreign minister following the July elections, Lammy has expressed reluctance to implement a complete ban on arms sales to Israel.

Following his visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank in July, Lammy declared in the House of Commons, in a motion calling for the immediate suspension of arms export licences to Israel, that Israel was “surrounded by people who would see its destruction”.

“For these reasons, a blanket ban between our country and Israel would not be right. What would be right is for me to examine the issues related to offensive weapons in Gaza in the usual way, according to the quasi-judicial process that I have outlined.”

During the July 19 sitting, other MPs also urged Lammy to publish the government’s assessment of any breaches of international humanitarian law since the October 7 Hamas attack. However, despite his earlier calls, the Labour government has failed to do so.

What do activists and legal experts say?

Following the attack on the WCK convoy in April, over 1,000 lawyers and retired judges in the UK sent a letter to the government arguing that the sale of arms to Israel violated international law.

In the letter, the lawyers argued that continued arms exports to Israel “raise concerns about the UK’s compliance with its obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty.”

CAAT, along with advocacy groups Palestine Solidarity Campaign and War on Want, also issued a joint statement saying the delay in halting arms exports to Israel was “unacceptable.”

“The Arms Trade Treaty, to which the United Kingdom is a party, stipulates that a state may not export arms if there is a ‘potential’ that they could be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian law,” the groups said in a statement.

“It is incomprehensible that after more than 75 years of Israeli military occupation and apartheid and nearly 10 months of Israeli genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the government’s legal advice has concluded that such a risk does not exist.”

Activists point to the International Court of Justice’s July opinion, which states that member states, including Britain, “must take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that contribute to maintaining the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Katie Fallon, advocacy manager at CAAT, told Al Jazeera that the case for an “immediate arms embargo has been overwhelming for months.”

“If Labour secures a significant halt to arms exports to Israel, it would be a crucial step in ending the impunity granted to Israel by the international community for the most serious abuses against the Palestinians, including genocide and crimes against humanity,” she said.

Fallon added that a suspension “must also include components for F-35 jets that drop bombs on Gaza, including 2,000-pound bombs.”

What changes has the new Labour government made regarding Gaza?

Two weeks after its victory in the British general election, the new Labour government announced that it would resume financial support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Lammy said Britain had committed to providing 21 million pounds ($27 million) to the agency, which had previously cut funding after Israel made unevidenced allegations that some UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.

Shortly after announcing the resumption of funding, the government also announced that it was settling a dispute with the International Criminal Court over jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.