LABOUR MP Zarah Sultana will make an impassioned plea in the Commons today for a halt to British arms sales to Israel.
With the Palestinian death toll in Gaza now standing at 17,700, including more than 7,000 children, the Coventry MP will present a Bill calling for the suspension of arms sales to “Israel and any state that might use them for war crimes.”
If successful, the legislation will also launch an inquiry into the use of British-made arms supplied to foreign states, suspending sales where the weapons could be used in violation of international law.
Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) reported that the government has licensed arms sales to Israel worth £474 million since 2015, including components for F-35 fighters jets used in air strikes on Gaza.
The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have accused Israel of serious violations of international law in its assault on Gaza, including war crimes.
Ms Sultana’s Bill follows the tabling last week of a cross-party early day motion, sponsored by SNP MP Chris Laws and signed by former Labour frontbenchers Afzal Khan and Imran Hussain, calling for an “immediate halt” to arms sales to Israel.
Her legislation would suspend arms sales to other countries including Saudi Arabia, which has been accused of war crimes in Yemen.
Ms Sultana said: “The British government is deeply complicit in the atrocities being inflicted on the Palestinian people: from refusing to vote for a ceasefire at the UN security council to continuing to sell arms to the Israeli military.
“This is a moral travesty, which my Bill would help to end. Parliament should say loud and clear: no more arms sales for Israeli war crimes.”
CAAT advocacy manager Katie Fallon said: “It is not credible that our government or Parliament believe Israel’s siege, bombardment and collective punishment of the occupied Gaza Strip are compliant with international law, as UN experts warn of a ‘genocide in the making.’
“We must immediately suspend arms exports to Israel and call on our Parliament to do everything in its power to establish a ceasefire.”
