UK Parliamentarians Urge Govt To Stop Arms Sale to Israel

A letter signed by over 130 parliamentarians in the UK has urged the government to urgently ban arms sales to Israel. The letter sent to foreign secretary, David Cameron, has highlighted actions of other countries like Canada who have halted arms exports to Tel Aviv.

The letter has been coordinated by Labour MP Zarah Sultana and signed by 107 MPs and 27 peers.

The British government is increasingly facing pressure to ban arms sales to Israel, amid Israeli government not commiting to a ceasefire.

The letter argues that ‘business as usual’ for UK arms exports to Israel is ‘totally unacceptable’. The letter added that an F-16 fighter jet made with UK parts was probably responsible for the bombing of British doctors in Gaza.

The letter noted that there are precedents where the UK government in the past have suspended arms sales to Israel.

‘The scale of violence committed by the Israeli military is vastly more deadly, but the UK government has failed to act,’ letter said.

Earlier, the UN Security Council resolution further deepened US-Israel division. The US abstained from voting on a resolution that called for the release of all hostages held in Gaza and called for a ceasefire.

In response, Netanyahu cancelled a planned visit by Israeli officials to Washington during which the U.S. side was set to propose alternatives to a ground assault in Rafah.

The move raised criticism in Israeli media that Netanyahu was straining Israel’s most important alliance in order to placate hard-liners in his governing coalition.

‘He is prepared to sacrifice Israel’s relations with the United States for a short-lived political-media coup. He has completely lost it,’ Ben Caspit, a prominent columnist in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, wrote.

Israel has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. According to the UN, a third of its population of 2.3 million are on the brink of famine.