The United Kingdom will immediately suspend 30 arms export licenses out of the 350 it has with Israel because there is a “clear risk” such equipment might be used to “commit serious violations of international humanitarian law“.
“This is not a blanket ban, this is not an arms embargo,” Foreign Minister David Lammy told parliament. “We do not take this decision lightly.”
Britain is among a number of Israel’s longstanding allies whose governments are under growing pressure to halt weapons exports because of the toll of the 11-month-old war in Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children.
British firms sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel. Earlier this year the government said military exports to Israel amounted to 42 million pounds ($53m) in 2022.
