THE UK Government has put off a decision on suspending arms sales to Israel, reports say.
Labour’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy had been expected to announce restrictions on at least some weapons exports as soon as Tuesday.
However, he is now expected to wait weeks while officials investigate exactly which exported weaponry could have been used and where in Israel.
Reports in Novara Media last week said it was the UK Government’s intention to publish and then follow legal advice saying Israel had violated international law in Gaza and so weapons exports should be halted. It said this advice was expected “as early as next week”.
Novara also reported that Labour was set to drop the UK’s objection to the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which then happened last Friday.
The previous week, Lammy had announced that Labour would restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) which was cut off by the Tories amid unevidenced allegations that some of its staff were linked to Hamas.
On Tuesday, The Telegraph reported concerns from the Israeli side that the UK Government was set to end some or all arms exports to the country, with sources saying they expected the announcement that same day.
Lammy will be in the Commons on Tuesday from around 11.30am answering topical and oral questions, which the order schedule suggests will mainly focus on Palestine.
However, The Times reported that any decision on arms sales had been delayed.
That paper said Lammy and other ministers were aiming to identify specific weapons linked to specific war crimes and block those exports, defying pressure from Labour backbenchers to bring in a blanket ban.
The Times further reported that there are tensions around a possible suspension of the export of parts for the F-35 fighter jet, which is alleged to be used in unlawful bombardments of Gaza, due to the UK not wanting to jeopardise relationships with the US.
Considerations within the UK Government are taking place amid heightened tensions in Israel following a weekend rocket strike that killed 12 children in Golan Heights, where Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.
The International Court of Justice ruled earlier in July that Israel’s presence in the Palestinian occupied territories is “unlawful” and must end.
Israel has blamed Hezbollah for the rocket from Lebanon but, in an unusual move, Hezbollah denied any role in the strike.
On the same day, Israeli airstrikes hit a school being used by displaced people in central Gaza, killing dozens, including at least seven children and seven women.
At least 30 people sheltering at a girls’ school in Deir Al-Balah were taken to Al Aqsa Hospital and pronounced dead, after a strike that Israel’s military said targeted a Hamas command and control centre used to store weapons and plan attacks. In a statement, Hamas called the military’s claim false.
Similar strikes have led to sustained calls for the UK Government to suspend arms exports to Israel, but the Tories remained steadfast in insisting that weapons sales were legal – although they would not publish official advice to that effect.
Lammy called for the legal advice to be published, but since taking power has also declined to publish anything.
