British parliamentarians sign letter, urging government to end arms sales to Israel

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Dozens of MPs and peers, members of the House of Lords, have called on the British government to ban arms sales to Israel amid increasing pressure against Israel from the international community.

The letter, signed by over 130 parliamentarians to Foreign Secretary David Cameron, recalled similar actions taken by some other countries, like Canada which has recently announced that it would suspend all arms exports to Israel.

Coordinated by the Labour MP Zarah Sultana, it was signed by 107 MPs and 27 peers, including former Labour Middle East Minister Peter Hain, the Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, and the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, according to the daily Guardian.

The Conservative peer Nosheena Mobarik, Foreign Office Permanent Secretary John Kerr, and former Labour Party minister Tessa Blackstone were among other signatories to the letter which saw support from 46 Labour MPs and almost the entire SNP parliamentary party.

Saying that UK arms sales to Israel is "totally unacceptable," the letter noted that UK-made arms are being used in the Gaza Strip.

It cited a UN investigation that found an F-16 fighter jet made with UK parts was probably responsible for the bombing of British doctors in Gaza.

RecalIing that in two previous escalations of conflict in the regions, UK governments have suspended arms sales, the letter stressed that “the scale of violence committed by the Israeli military is vastly more deadly (today), but the UK government has failed to act.”

This came after the UN Security Council vote on Monday that adopted a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Palestinian territories since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 32,400 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 74,800 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.