UK continuing to send arms to Israel despite ban, report finds
Britain’s Foreign Minister David Lammy delivers a statement on the Israel and Hamas ceasefire deal at the House of Commons in London, on 16 January 2025
Dania Akkad reports in Middle East Eye on 7 May 202
A wide range of UK-made military goods and arms, including F-35 fighter jet parts, have continued to be sent to Israel even after the British government suspended 30 arms export licences in September, Israeli import data revealed in a report on Wednesday suggests.
The report released by three campaign groups says parts for the jet, which has been critical for Israel’s war on Gaza, appear to have arrived in Israel as recently as March, five months after the UK said it had suspended its direct exports over concerns they might be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Data from the Israeli Tax Authority cited by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Workers for a Free Palestine and Progressive International shows that 8,630 separate munitions have been sent from the UK to Israel since the suspensions.
The munitions fall under a category of import labelled “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof”. Most of the shipments cited in the report happened after the government’s arms suspension.
Soon after the suspensions, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament that “much of what we send is defensive in nature. It is not what we describe routinely as arms”.
The report’s authors write: “On the basis of the evidence in this report, it appears that David Lammy has misled parliament and the public about arms shipments to Israel.”
The UK’s Department for Business and Trade did not respond to a request for comment. A Foreign Office spokesperson told The Guardian: “This government has suspended relevant licences for the [Israeli Defence Forces] that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
“Of the remaining licences for Israel, the vast majority are not for the Israeli Defence Forces but are for civilian purposes or re-export, and therefore are not used in the war in Gaza.
“The only exemption is the F-35 programme due to its strategic role in Nato and wider implications for international peace and security. Any suggestion that the UK is licensing other weapons for use by Israel in the war in Gaza is misleading.
“The UK totally opposes an expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. We urge all parties to return urgently to talks, implement the ceasefire agreement in full, secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, and work towards a permanent peace.”