By JILL LAWLESS (Associated Press)
LONDON (AP) — More than 600 British legal experts, including three former judges from the U.K. Supreme Court, are urging the government to halt weapon sales to Israel, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the deaths of three U.K. aid workers in an Israeli attack.
Britain is just one of several of Israel’s traditional allies whose governments are under increasing pressure to stop exporting weapons due to the toll of the six-month-long conflict in Gaza.
In a public letter to Sunak released late Wednesday, the legal experts and judges stated that the U.K. could be involved in “serious violations of international law” if it continues to transport weapons.
Signatories, including former Supreme Court President Brenda Hale, said Britain is obligated by law to take seriously the International Court of Justice’s finding that there is a “credible risk of genocide” in Gaza.
The letter stated that the “sale of weapons and weapon systems to Israel … does not meet your government’s obligations under international law.”
Britain is a strong supporter of Israel, but relations have been strained by the growing number of deaths, mostly of civilians, in the conflict. Calls to end weapon exports have increased since an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from the aid charity World Central Kitchen, three of whom were British.
Israel claims the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by “misidentification.”
The U.K.’s main opposing parties have all stated that the Conservative government should stop weapon sales to Israel if the country has violated international law in Gaza.
Several senior Conservatives have also called for this, including Alicia Kearns, who leads the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.
Sunak has not committed to a weapon export ban, but stated Wednesday that “while of course we defend Israel’s right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
British companies sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has stated that military exports to Israel totaled 42 million pounds ($53 million) in 2022.
Other allies of Israel are also receiving requests to stop supplying weapons and to advocate for a cease-fire in the conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of over 32,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated Thursday that his country had halted the sale of weapons to Israel, and encouraged other countries to do likewise. Sanchez stated Wednesday that his government has left “the door open” to diplomatic actions against Israel over its “inadequate” explanation of the aid workers’ deaths.
In February, Canada announced it would stop future shipments, and in the same month a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to cease the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel. The Dutch government said it would appeal.
Other countries, including Israel’s two biggest arms suppliers, the United States and Germany, continue to permit weapon sales.
Germany is one of Israel’s closest friends in Europe and, because of memories of the Holocaust, is careful when criticizing Israel. However, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has started to express unease, asking Netanyahu in a meeting last month how any objective can “justify such terribly high costs.”
Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security advisor, said stopping U.K. arms sales would not change the course of the war, but “would be a strong political message.”
“And it might just spark discussion in the U.S. as well, which would be the real game-changer,” he told the BBC.
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Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed to this story.
