There is ‘fundamental difference’ with US on arms sales to Israel, says UK foreign secretary

LONDON

The British foreign secretary on Thursday reiterated that they will continue to review arms licenses to Israel, mentioning that there is a very fundamental difference between the US and the UK situation on arms shipments.

“The US is a massive state supplier of weapons to Israel while UK’s defense exports in Israel are responsible for significantly less than 1%,” David Cameron told reporters following his address at the National Cyber Security Centre in London.

The foreign secretary’s remarks came after he was asked whether the UK will follow the US on the arms supply issue due to the concern over Israel’s Rafah offensive.

“There’s a very fundamental difference between the US situation and the UK situation,” said Cameron, adding that they have clear licensing procedures, and will continue to follow those very closely.

US President Joe Biden said in an interview on CNN on Wednesday that he paused arms shipments to Israel over its offensive on Rafah, where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sheltered from Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

The UK has long met with a wide range of criticism from pro-Palestinian voices and organizations over continuing arms export licenses to Israel.

Saying that a “very small amount of weapons” go from the UK to Israel, Cameron noted that Britain’s message is “very clear,” that they would not support a major operation in Rafah unless there is a clear plan to protect people and to save lives.

“We haven’t seen that plan. So we wouldn’t support the major operation,” he added.

The Israeli army on Tuesday seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, a vital route for humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.

On Monday, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah, a move widely seen as a prelude to Israel’s long-feared attack on the city.

Reiterating their process toward arms sales, he said they follow necessary procedures to “make sure they’re not going to contribute to a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. Over 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and more than 78,500 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.