War on Gaza: UK approved dozens of military export licences to Israel since 7 October
The F35 aircraft for which UK makes and exports parts
Dania Akkad reports in Middle East Eye on 11 June 2024:
More than 100 UK export licences for the sale of weapons, military equipment and other controlled items to Israel have been approved since October 2023, new data has revealed.
No licences were revoked after the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October, nor have any been refused with 185 applications still pending, according to the Department for Business and Trade.
The British department’s data, released on Tuesday, also shows that more than 300 licences, including those permitting the export of UK arms and military equipment to Israel, were in place at the end of May.
Military equipment covered under those licences include components for military aircraft, vehicles and combat naval vessels, the department said.
The data release comes after months of pressure from MPs and campaigners for greater transparency from the government about its decision-making process on arms exports to Israel, with many calling for an immediate suspension of sales. Concerns were heightened after a UN investigation found that UK-made components were likely used when Israel bombed a facility in Gaza that was housing British doctors working for UK and US organisations in January and after three British nationals were killed in the Israeli attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy in April.
Last month, in a lively Business and Trade committee hearing, MPs expressed frustration that the government had released more data about the exports to the High Court, where two groups are challenging UK arms sales to Israel, than what was available to the politicians.
The department said it had chosen to release the information “given the exceptional circumstances, and the significant Parliamentary and public interest”.
Outcry over ‘business as usual’
Campaigners on Tuesday said the fact that not a single licence had been rejected since 7 October was “shocking”, with some raising concerns that the data was too sparse and will only leave the politicians and public it was meant to serve with more questions.
Neil Sammonds, senior campaigner for the UK-based War On Want, told Middle East Eye: “It should be shocking that the UK has not revoked any arms licences to Israel given the clear risk they might be used in violations of international law, let alone in multiple war crimes and genocide.”
‘It is merely the decision makers in government who are preventing this. On every other level, there should be an arms embargo’
– Chris Doyle, Council for Arab-British Understanding
“But the latest data is lamentably no surprise given the UK’s jettisoning of international law and domestic law obligations to sustain tooth-and-nail complicity in Israel’s ferocious, decades-long onslaught against the Palestinians.”