Humanitarians killed in Gaza: UK plans to stop selling arms to Israel
The families of three British aid workers killed in the bombing of a humanitarian convoy in Gaza denounce an “
inhumane act
”. In London, Foreign Minister David Cameron had to cut short his Easter vacation to deal with this incident, for which the Israeli army accepted responsibility. In the United Kingdom, more and more politicians are now calling for an end to arms exports.
Portraits of the seven humanitarian workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen killed in Gaza by an Israeli strike on April 1, 2024. AFP - -
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in London
,
Émeline Vin
The Liberal Democrats and the opposition Scottish Nationalist Party are calling for an immediate suspension of British arms exports to
Israel
- a trade the government estimates at 45 million euros a year, a tiny share of Israeli purchases on the arms market. The main opposition party, Labor, is demanding that the executive publish the memos from its legal advisers. The Labor position is that if there is a tangible risk that Israel will breach international conventions, then exports must be stopped.
It's not just a matter of opposition: at least three Conservative MPs have also taken a position for a cessation of sales, joined by several former diplomats. The latter believe that stopping exports would send a strong signal to Israel.
Faced with these increasingly numerous calls, the Prime Minister,
Rishi Sunak
, does not rule out a suspension. “
Israel's behavior is
increasingly intolerable
,” he declared, recalling that exports were subject to strict rules, including compliance with international conventions.
Read alsoStrikes on humanitarian workers in Gaza: Warsaw demands explanations, London “dismayed”
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