Labour makes its first call for UK arms halt to 'Israel'
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Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called on the government to halt arms exports to 'Israel' if it goes ahead with a large-scale invasion of Rafah.
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David Lammy, the UK Labour Party's Shadow Foreign Secretary gestures as he meets with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, Lebanon, on January 12, 2024. (AP)
Shadow Secretary David Lammy of the Labour Party has called on the UK government to pause arms sales to "Israel", particularly weapons used in an Israeli invasion of Rafah for the first time since the war on Gaza began.
On the other hand, David Cameron, the current foreign secretary, said on Sunday that such a decision is "not a wise path."
"Labour has been opposed to an Israeli offensive in Rafah for months and has been clear it must not go ahead," Lammy explained.
The UK government has also kept legal advice it received on arms sales to the Israeli regime secret, as reports indicate that government lawyers have indeed pointed to several breaches of international law by the Israeli occupation. If the government were to admit that "Israel" has breached international law in its war on Gaza, the UK government would be forced to halt arms sales to the non-compliant regime.
"This was part of Labour’s motion that passed the House of Commons in February and it is one of the reasons we have been calling on David Cameron to publish a summary of the legal advice with regards to arms sales," the shadow minister stated.
The US has reportedly taken measures to halt a shipment of weapons to the Israeli occupation, namely guidance kits used on heavy-calibre bombs.
Lammy said that US President Joe Biden "is correct to tell [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu that the US will not supply weapons that could be used in a Rafah offensive if Israel proceeds with a full-scale attack on Rafah."
It is worth noting that the current Israeli aggression on Rafah has been interpreted to fall under what Washington deems acceptable, although it has led to dozens of civilian deaths and the occupation of the vital Rafah border crossing.
The UK shadow minister suggested that the UK government should work with the US to prevent a wider-scale aggression. Lammy believes that it could do so by clearly stating that it will "assess UK exports" to the Israeli regime and join its "American allies in suspending weapons to components that could be used in that Rafah offensive."
However, Cameron insists that the UK is not in the same position as the US, arguing that the UK supplies different systems and components to "Israel" and that Britain is not a state supplier to "Israel".
Despite Cameron's attempts to frame UK exports to the Israeli regime as non-essential, the Campaign Against Arms Trade nonprofit group estimates that the real value of British arms exports to Tel Aviv has been at least one billion pounds since 2015, much higher than government figures. The group also points out that Britain-based companies, such as BAE Systems, export crucial systems used in F-35 fighter jets.
Read more: UK forces may be deployed in Gaza under guise of aid delivery: BBC
