UK risks breaching international law by arming Israel, prominent lawyers warn
More than 600 lawyers including former Supreme Court justices have warned the British Government risks breaching international law by continuing to allow the export of weapons to Israel.
A letter published on Wednesday night said the worsening situation in Gaza and the International Court of Justiceâs conclusion that there was a âplausible risk of genocideâ obliged to UK to suspend arms sales to the country.
Signatories include former Supreme Court President Lady Hale, former Supreme Court justices Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson and nine other judges and 69 KCs.
It comes as pressure mounts on Rishi Sunak over the supply of weapons to Israel. On Wednesday, former foreign secretary Jack Straw told i the Government must now act due to Israelâs âinhumaneâ actions in the warzone.
The letter also came at the end of a day of cross-party calls for the suspension of arms exports to Israel following the news that three British nationals were among the seven aid workers killed on Monday night.
Labourâs shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, urged the Government to publish any legal advice it had received on whether Israel had broken international law, and to suspend arms sales if there was a risk weapons could be used in âa serious breach of international humanitarian lawâ.
He said: âThe law is clear. British arms licences cannot be granted if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
âLabourâs message to the Government is equally clear. Publish the legal advice now. If it says there is a clear risk that UK arms might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law, itâs time to suspend the sale of those arms.â
On Tuesday, Downing Street declined to say whether it believed Israel was operating within international humanitarian law, saying it would not comment on legal advice but added ministers acted in accordance with any advice.
The SNP and the Liberal Democrats have also called for arms exports to be suspended, as have Conservative MPs Flick Drummond and David Jones following a similar plea from Lord Ricketts, the former national security adviser to now-Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
But Rishi Sunak said the UK had a âvery carefulâ arms export regime that it would âalways followâ.
He told The Sunâs Never Mind The Ballots show: âThere are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that weâll always follow, and I have been consistently clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu since the start of this conflict that while, of course, we defend Israelâs right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law, protect civilian lives and, sadly, too many civilians have already lost their lives.â
The Government does not directly supply Israel with weapons, but does grant export licences for British companies to sell arms to the country and can block those sales by suspending the licences.
The UK has taken this course twice before. Margaret Thatcherâs government suspended arms exports following Israelâs 1982 invasion of Lebanon, while Tony Blairâs government blocked sales of some military equipment in 2002.
Additional reporting by PA