A ban on arms and weapons component sales to Israel must be introduced by the new Labour government, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, in response to a written question from the Foyle MP, said the UK government will continue to monitor developments in the Middle East as part of the “assessment process” linked to the sale of arms to Israel.
Since 2008, the UK has licenced arms worth over £576 million to Israel, according to analysis of export data by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). The value of licences granted dropped from £42 million in 2022 to £18.2 million in 2023.
Mr Eastwood asked the department “to review the policy of licensing arms exports to Israel following the decision of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and senior administration officials”.
The MP welcomed the reinstatement of UK funding for UNRWA, the United Nations body tasked with providing humanitarian relief for Palestinian refugees, including in Gaza, “as a pivotal first step in delivering more support to people in Gaza whose communities and lives have been devastated over the last year”.
In his response to the question, Mr Reynolds said: “The government assesses export licences against the strategic export licensing criteria.”
“We will continue to monitor developments as part of the assessment process. The foreign secretary met with President Netanyahu in Israel on 14 July and pushed for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the upholding of international law, and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza.”
In December, 2023, then Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch decided not to suspend existing licences or stop granting licences, but to keep her decisions “under careful review”. Following further review, Ms Badenoch, in April, said the government’s position “would remain unchanged”.
Mr Eastwood said: “There is no moral justification for the continued export of arms and weapons components to Israel. We know that they’re being used to perpetuate a genocide because we can see it unfolding every day.
“If the scenes of destruction aren’t enough then the decision of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior administration officials should have been the moment to put this practice to an end.”
He added: “Further international action is needed - the tools of genocide cannot be provided to those who have proven so eager to use them.
“SDLP MPs alongside others have been pressing for this intervention from the start. What we now need is an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages and a two-state solution based on the recognition of the state of Palestine.”
