UK partially suspends arms sales to Israel after months of protests

The British government has announced its decision to partially ban arms exports to the Israeli regime, amid criticisms of the UK's indirect involvement in the Gaza genocide. 

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament on Monday that the partial ban would suspend 30 out of 350 arms export licenses for arms manufacturers supplying military equipment to the Israeli regime.

Lammy -- who had been tasked by the UK government to prepare an assessment on the chances of the Israeli regime violating international laws in its continued onslaught on Gaza -- told lawmakers that there is a “clear risk” that the banned weapons and ammunition provided by British weapons companies could be used to kill innocent Palestinians in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

He said the government’s ban had included weaponry “which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza” against helpless Palestinian people, mostly women and children, trapped under Israeli fire in the besieged Gaza Strip.

However, he also pointed out that UK weapons manufacturers, which made the parts for warplanes that were vital for the Israeli jet fighters bombing Gaza on an almost daily basis, were not listed in the ban.

The suspension comes after months of pro-Palestinian protests in London and other cities demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and also a halt in British arms sales to Israel.

Since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, the UK, and to a much larger extent the US, has been supplying all kinds of arms and munitions to the Israeli regime.

Media reports have revealed many of the weapons and ammunition shipments of arms manufacturers' goods to the Israeli regime are done quietly, without formal notification of governments, or the public knowing about it.

US sends over 50,000 tons of weaponry to Israeli regime since Oct. 7

The United States has sent 50,000 tons of arms and ammunition to the Israeli regime since October 7.

The unofficial deliveries include thousands of rockets, missiles, a variety of bombs, rifles, munitions, and other weapons, and equipment.

London also claims that the UK sales exports of military equipment and goods to the Israeli regime are "relatively small" compared to the US.

According to the UK government, British arms sales to Tel Aviv amounted to £42mn ($53mn) only in 2022.

However, the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) says that since 2008, the UK has granted arms export licenses to Israel worth £574mn ($727mn), in total. Much of those are for components used in US-made warplanes that end up in Israel.

Meanwhile, the British government is coming under mounting pressure to suspend arms sales exports to Tel Aviv.

Tens of thousands of Britons have taken to Britain’s streets on multiple occasions in a nationwide rally against arming Israel. 

The previous UK prime minister claimed London abides by a "very careful export licensing regime" and said Israel must "act in accordance with international humanitarian law". However, a senior member of the government has informed British media that a full arms and ammunition embargo of the Israeli regime is "not going to happen" in the UK, not now, not ever; neither by Whigs nor by Tories.

The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza in the relentless Israeli strikes since early October has reached 40,786, with at least 94,224 more injured, according to health officials.

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