Bill to ban arms to Israel should be in King's Speech, says UK MP

A British MP is pushing for the new Labour government to suspend arms sales to Israel in the wake of the Gaza war ahead of the state opening of parliament on Wednesday.

Labour MP Zarah Sultana, whose centre-left party won a landslide in the 4 July general election, is calling on the government to ban arms sales to Israel and uphold international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Over the course of the nine-month war, there have been repeated calls for the UK to suspend arms sales to Israel over concerns that British-made arms or arms parts, such as fighter jets, have been used by the Israeli military to commit war crimes.

Writing in the British newspaper The Guardian on Wednesday, Sultana said that the "responsibility" is now on the Labour government to "do the right thing," after the Conservative government of Rishi Sunak ignored the calls.

"After almost 10 months and 38,000 Palestinians killed, to their eternal shame the Conservatives left office refusing to suspend arms sales. This responsibility now falls to Labour," Sultana wrote.

Rights groups and charities have highlighted Britain's role in contributing to the Israeli army arsenal through diplomatic support and multi-million pound business ties.

According to research from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), the UK has licensed arms sales worth almost half a billion pounds since 2015 - including components for F-35 fighter jets.

Defence firm BAE Systems has over 50 UK locations and manufactures F-35 fighter jets parts used by the Israeli army. Another UK based company Lockheed Martin manufactures the fighter jets that are believed to be dropping bombs over Gaza and are described by the company as the "most lethal fighter jet in the world".

Human rights organisation Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor found in November that Israel had dropped more than 25,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war on 7 October, exceeding the weight of two nuclear bombs.

Since the outbreak of the war following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, the British government has supported Israel's brutal invasion of Gaza.

But there is hope that the new Labour government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer could bring a hardened stance towards Israel and greater accountability for the war, which has killed more than 38,700 Palestinians and sparked a major humanitarian catastrophe.

Wednesday's state opening of parliament is a traditional ceremony marked by the presence of the King who reads a speech written by the government, which announces bills the new parliament plans to pass, typically what featured in the winning party's manifesto.

Wednesday's speech read by the King to the Houses of Parliament included more than 35 bills, ranging from housebuilding to nationalizing Britain’s railways and decarbonizing the nation’s power supply with a publicly owned green energy firm.

It also had nods to foreign policy, including trying to secure "long-term peace and security in the Middle East".

The speech also referenced the two-state solution for Israel-Palestine that has been the UK government’s position for decades. It said that the government is "committed" to a two-state solution with a "safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state".

As a backbench MP Sultana’s bill will need the backing of the party and will be voted on to include on Wednesday.

Sultana introduced a similar bill three months into the current war, calling for an inquiry into the use of British-made arms supplied to foreign states.

In the Guardian article, Sultana calls on Foreign Secretary David Lammy to act on his previous statements that "British arms licenses 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."

Israel is facing prosecution at two world courts for atrocities and crimes against humanity in Gaza and the West Bank, with some cases dating back years.

In May the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant. The move was denounced by the Conservative government at the time, which led Labour in opposition to state that it “supports the independence of international courts”.

But reports this week suggested that Starmer’s government is looking to "backtrack" on this position and uphold the UK’s challenge to the ICC’s jurisdiction.

The UK has previously suspended arms sales to Israel during past conflicts, including in 1982, 2002, 2009 and 2014.

(with Agencies)

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