THE welcome news of the release of Yvonne Ridley and the other remaining activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) came too late for our edition today.

The 462 GSF participants, on a humanitarian mission to Gaza, were kidnapped by Israeli forces when they intercepted the flotilla in international waters, over the period October 1-3. 456 were released within a few days, after having endured horrendous conditions in detention, but six remained. 

As we profiled on our front page on Tuesday, Ridley was among those still being held, in her case in the notorious Ktzi’ot prison camp, infamous for its decades-long abject track record on deprivation, violence and sexual abuse. 

She and four more of the then-remaining detainees are British citizens. Whether Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office had a hand in securing their release is not clear. But our government was noticeably mute when an act of Israeli piracy on the high seas took place.

As the GSF organisation points out, the interception of the flotilla was illegal under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea. The abduction and arbitrary arrest of its participants violates Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

Their forced transfer to prisons in Israel violates Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: “prohibition of the transfer of civilians from occupied territory,” which extends to the protection of persons arrested at sea in the context of an armed conflict.

The forcible seizing of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza is a clear reflection of Israel’s unlawful starvation policy, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law and listed as a war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute.

Is our august Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, aware of all this? Very likely. But he has been silent on it because he and his government are up to their necks in Israeli war crimes and genocide.

As Channel 4 revealed on Monday, the value of British arms imported by Israel has reached a record high in 2025. Those arms required export licences. By analysis of Israel Tax Authority customs data, the broadcaster found that Israel imported nearly £1 million worth of British munitions in the first nine months of this year. That’s more than double the amount received in any of the previous three years.

Over £400,000 worth of arms were imported from British companies in June 2025 — the highest monthly amount since these records began in January 2022. The exact nature of the items isn’t specified, but they are under a category that includes bombs, grenades, torpedoes, missiles and ammunition. It cannot be a coincidence that these shipments took place in the run-up to Israel’s current assault on Gaza City.

Channel 4 also exposed that September 2025 was the second-highest value month on record, with over £310,000 worth of British munitions under this same category arriving in Israel, and that in August, one item worth £20,000 was listed as “bullets,” according to Israel’s codebook.

Our government says: “We do not export bombs or ammunition for IDF use in military operations in Gaza or the West Bank … The data include items which are for civilian use only or are being re-exported and not staying in Israel or being used by the IDF.” 

That simply beggars belief. The Israeli government has violated so many international laws and lied so many times that it simply can’t be trusted on what will happen to the items shipped. In any case, supplying them to a genocidal regime is effectively a statement of support.

At the weekend, the Green Party conference voted to recognise the Israeli Defence Forces as a terrorist organisation, and called for criminal investigations into the British government for “aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide.”

These decisions, together with last week’s Labour conference vote, should give added impetus for the national demonstration for Palestine this coming Saturday.