The British government is facing increasing pressure from anti-export groups to investigate the possible participation of warplanes that include technologies manufactured in the United Kingdom in the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

According to the data obtained by Al-Jazeera Net, the matter is related to the participation of F-35s (F-35s) in bombing the Gaza Strip.

And if it is known that these aircraft are primarily an American industry, but the information on which Al-Jazeera Net is available, was collected by the British "Campaign against the Arms Trade" Foundation;

This type of aircraft has many British-made technologies.

50 F-35s in the Israeli army fleet by 2024 (Reuters)

Participate in aggression

The information about the participation of F-35s can be traced in an article for the Hebrew "Times of Israel", which quotes from the Israeli Defense Ministry that there are more than 80 aircraft that participated in the military operation against the Gaza Strip, including the F-35 aircraft.

During April 2020, Tel Aviv received 3 aircraft of the same type, bringing the number to 27, and it is expected that 23 additional aircraft will arrive for the occupation army by 2024, bringing the total fleet to 50 F-35 aircraft.

This will not be the last deal, as the number is expected to increase further, as the occupation government agreed to acquire more of these aircraft, which are the most modern in the world, but without specifying the number.

These data indicating the participation of "F-35" in the aggression on Gaza led to a question about the presence of the British military industry in these aircraft, and the answer we found in the UK Defense Journal, which specializes in the British military field, which confirms that there is A British touch in these aircraft.

According to the same source, 15% of the components of the "F-35" are British-made, and the same site relates from the American company, "Lockheed Martin" (LOCKHEED MARTIN) that manufactures these aircraft that "the British industry's footprint is clear in the components of these aircraft, especially their electronic systems," Among these companies there is Rolls-Royce, in addition to more than 100 companies present in Britain that provide us with parts of these aircraft. "

All these components that are exported are licensed under an open and general license (OGEL), and according to this license, Israel is among the countries that can benefit from these exports, and the advantage of this type of licenses is that they are valid for an indefinite period, which allows companies to export unlimited quantities of Equipment it manufactures to destinations listed in the license, including Israel.

The occupation forces also used in their recent aggression, "F-16" aircraft and Apache helicopters, and these war parts include British-made components.

In 2009, then Foreign Minister David Miliband admitted that the Israeli weapons used in Gaza during the 2008-2009 aggression "certainly" contained components provided by the United Kingdom.

The British government had previously conducted a review after the 2014 aggression, and found that 12 licenses to export weapons were used in the bombing of the Strip, and during that period also the government promised that it would stop arms exports to Israel if they were used again against civilians in the Gaza Strip.

There are calls to interrogate British Defense Minister Ben Wallace about the participation of F-35s in the bombing of Gaza (Reuters)

Between silence and anger

All these data were presented to the government by the British newspaper "The Independent", and the response from government agencies was brief, stating that "the British government deals with great responsibility with its arms exports," without mentioning more.

Note that there are calls for interrogation of British Defense Minister Ben Wallace to find out the reality of the situation, and whether the government will take any measures to restrict the export of some military equipment to Israel.

Commenting on these facts and the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the head of the "Campaign Against the Arms Trade", Andrew Smith, said in his statement to Al-Jazeera Net, "The Israeli bombing has killed hundreds of Palestinians and contributed to the exacerbation of the crisis in Gaza, and despite all this, the arms deals "That which is held with a country like Britain is still going to reinforce the Israeli forces, and once again it appears that some components of the weapons manufactured in Britain are being used against the Palestinians."

Despite stressing the importance of a cease-fire in Palestine, Smith considers that the file is in a state of stalemate due to "settlements, the blockade and the apartheid system, and it is time for governments like the British government to contribute to a real path to peace."