https://arab.news/pcfbe
- British PM expects ‘sustained’ aid deliveries to Gaza before reversing partial weapons freeze
- Israeli counterpart raised the matter during phone call on Tuesday
LONDON: The UK is delaying lifting its partial ban on arms exports to Israel until “sustained” humanitarian aid shipments arrive in Gaza, The Times reported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu by telephone on Tuesday, is believed to be resisting pressure from Tel Aviv on the matter.
Starmer is expected to wait for formal legal advice that Israel’s policy on aid deliveries has improved before reversing the ban.
A source told The Times: “There are signs that the trucks are getting through. But we have told the Israelis we need that to be sustained and to see numbers increased.”
Last September, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended 30 of 350 export licenses to Israel due to fears that the weapons could be used to commit violations of international law, implicating Britain in the process. Licenses are reviewed every six weeks as per government policy.
The government’s existing legal position on the banned export licenses cites credible claims of Israeli mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners of war, as well as insufficient aid deliveries to Gaza. Israel could “reasonably do more to facilitate humanitarian access and distribution,” it says.
During Tuesday’s phone call, Netanyahu “raised the issue of the weapons export licenses to Israel that have been frozen in the UK,” according to an Israeli government report.
There are concerns that an Israeli law set to take effect next week designating the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees as a terrorist group could prevent it from helping with urgent aid deliveries.
UNRWA is the largest aid organization in Gaza, with about 13,000 staff in the Palestinian enclave.