Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Berri: It is our fate every Eid al-Adha to offer sacrifices in defense of Lebanon and its sovereignty, and the aggression will not prevent us from celebrating our holidays
Berri: Our positions must be unifying for all Lebanese in confronting the Israeli aggressiveness, which does not target a specific sect or region, but rather all of Lebanon and the Lebanese, and even Arabs and Muslims in their holiest sanctities
Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon Nabih Berri: Our position regarding the continuous Israeli violation of Lebanon is identical to and adopts the position of the President of the Republic in all national and sovereign dimensions
Israeli raids strike eight residential buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs; shelling reported in Ain Qana, southern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Another Israeli airstrike targets Beirut’s southern suburb
Saree: The operation comes in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people and in response to the aggression against Beirut’s southern suburb
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson: The operation successfully achieved its objective, forcing millions of Israeli settlers to flee into shelters
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree: We targeted Lod Airport (Ben Gurion Airport) in the occupied Yafa area with a hypersonic ballistic missile, the “Palestine 2” type
Salam: We call on the international community to hold "Israel" accountable, halt its attacks, and ensure full withdrawal from Lebanese territory
Salam: These attacks constitute a blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and UN Security Council Resolution 1701

UK arms exports to 'Israel' in numbers, despite rising calls for halt

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 5 Apr 2024 16:01
3 Min Read

Labour insists that any such suspension will only apply if legal advice suggests "Israel" has violated international law.

  • x
  • Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses the media at Downing Street in London, on March 1, 2024. (AP)
    Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses the media at Downing Street in London, on March 1, 2024. (AP)

Following the attack on the World Central Kitchen by "Israel" that killed 7 aid workers this week, the UK government, once again, comes face to face with renewed calls to stop exporting weapons to "Israel" due to its continued violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).

According to the Aid Worker Security Database, the attack brought the number of aid workers killed by "Israel" since October to 203. 

In response, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled” and believes “too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable.”

Over 600 lawyers earlier co-signed an open letter to the British government to suspend weapons export licenses that permit their sale from UK-based companies to "Israel".

Signed by former Supreme Court president Lady Hale, the letter states that the UK’s inaction “falls significantly short of your government’s obligations under international law.”

The signatories, in a 17-page legal opinion letter sent to the Prime Minister on the evening of April 3, labeled the current situation in Gaza as "catastrophic", emphasizing that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that there is a "plausible risk of genocide" committed by the Israeli occupation against Gaza, which makes the UK legally obliged to take steps to prevent it, as per The Guardian.

Read more: UK civil servants request to stop work over arms sales to "Israel"

Related News

Resistance launch coordinated attacks on Israeli forces in Gaza

Suspending weapons to 'Israel' was never a consideration, Germany says

Both the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party already called for military exports to be suspended, but Labour claims suspension will only apply if legal advice suggests "Israel" has violated international law.

The real question to pose in this context would be how much has the UK sent to "Israel" in weapons?

Almost £57 million ($71.9 million) worth of weapons have been exported to "Israel" from 2022 to June 2023, as per data from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

The hefty package includes 151 “standard” licenses – including £19mln ($23.9mln) for aircraft, helicopters, and drones – £10mln ($12.6mln) for armored vehicles and tanks, and £3mln ($3.7mln) for grenades, bombs, missiles, and countermeasures.

It noted that the total value of the UK’s military exports to "Israel" reached £487mln ($615mln).

Meanwhile, CAAT revealed that the drone used for the April 2 attack on WCK was powered by a UK-made engine component.

CAAT spokesperson Emily Apple said, “This government is complicit in the murder of UK aid workers in Gaza. It has had every opportunity to impose an arms embargo and has refused to do so.”

“Open” licences are excluded, as they do not limit the quantity or value of exports, and CAAT says that UK sources provide "Israel" with up to 15% of the value of their F-35 planes used in airstrikes.

  • Gaza Strip
  • Weapons
  • Israeli aggression
  • WCK
  • Israel
  • Rishi Sunak
  • Israeli occupation
  • UK
  • United Kingdom
  • world central kitchen
  • Gaza
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP)

Boston Consulting Group withdraws from GHF

  • Palestine
  • 3 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Poll
Palestine

Sharp decline in international perception of 'Israel', Netanyahu: Poll

Ukrainian soldiers with the anti-drone KVS G-6, manufactured by Kvertus Technology.Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Facebook
US & Canada

Shift in US priorities: Drone fuzes reallocated from Kiev to CENTCOM

US Jews accuse Trump of antisemitism despite his pro-'Israel' stance
US & Canada

US Jews accuse Trump of antisemitism despite his pro-'Israel' stance

Former US President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sept. 30, 2024 (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
US & Canada

Trump orders investigation into Biden’s autopen use, cognitive fitness

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS