China News Service, London, April 4 (Ouyang Kaiyu and Peng Xinyi) In recent times, the British government has been facing increasing pressure on the sale of weapons to Israel. The joint appeals of people in many fields may prompt The government is reviewing this policy.
Multiple British media reported on the 4th that British legal experts and former Supreme Court judges jointly called on the British government to stop selling weapons to Israel. They argue that UK arms exports could breach international law due to the risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
More than 600 members of the legal profession, including three former Supreme Court judges, signed a 17-page letter to British Prime Minister Sunak. "Providing military aid and supplies to Israel risks making the UK complicit in genocide and serious violations of international humanitarian law," they said in the letter.
The letter emphasized that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had issued a judgment in January this year requiring Israel to comply with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. At the same time, the ICJ also expressed concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
In addition, the letter also proposes that the British government should take additional actions to fulfill its obligations under international law. These actions include resuming funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, initiating a review of the UK's existing trade agreements and "considering sanctions against Israel".
On April 1, the Israeli army carried out an air strike in the central area of the Gaza Strip. Many aid workers from international organizations, including three British citizens, were killed in the air strike. Subsequently, British Prime Minister Sunak stated in a phone call with the Israeli Prime Minister that he was shocked by this and demanded a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident. He pointed out that too many aid workers and ordinary civilians had been killed in Gaza, and "the situation is becoming increasingly unbearable."
British media reported that after this incident, the pressure on the British government increased sharply, and it urgently needed to re-examine its arms sales policy to Israel. Former British Foreign Secretary Alan Duncan said: "The (British) government's position on the export of arms to Israel raises serious concerns." He called for an immediate arms embargo and an immediate investigation into whether they were used in the killing of aid workers. British weapons.
Former British national security adviser Ricketts also said that there is now a lot of evidence that Israel is not careful enough to fulfill its obligations in terms of civilian security. A condition of arms export licenses is that countries receiving weapons from the UK must comply with international humanitarian law.
Last week, more than 130 British MPs signed a joint letter to put pressure on the British government to stop providing weapons to Israel. The joint letter to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said it was "completely unacceptable" that the UK still exports arms to Israel. A recent United Nations investigation found that an F-16 fighter jet built with British parts may have been involved in the bombing of Gaza hospitals.
The website of the Library of the House of Commons quoted data from the British Campaign Against Arms Trade as showing that from 2008 to 2022, the UK has issued arms export licenses worth more than 574 million pounds to Israel.
Earlier this year, the British High Court rejected a request urging the British government to stop arms sales to Israel. The court also said the Department of Business and Trade needed to consider whether the items being sold "clearly" risked a "serious" breach of international legal standards. In addition, some British government officials responded to relevant questions by saying that there are many factors to consider in the decision-making process of whether to continue arms sales to Israel, and the process is not simple. (over)