Muslim Labour councilors in UK call for immediate suspension of arms sales to Israel

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - More than 100 Labour Muslim councilors have called on the British prime minister to completely and immediately halt arms sales to Israel which has killed 42,500 Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7 last year.

In a letter to Keir Starmer, the signatories representing communities all across Britain stressed the tragic human toll in the Gaza Strip has been “unimaginable.”

Recalling that over 17,000 children are estimated to have been killed in the besieged Palestinian enclave by Israeli attacks in a year, the letter said that 31 hospitals and 88% of schools in the strip have now been destroyed or severely damaged.

"We must not be complicit in these clear violations of international humanitarian law. It is our moral obligation to act now," said the councilors, in the letter, shared Friday on X by Labour Muslim Network.

"That is why we have come together, as Councillors, as Muslims, and as Labour members to call on this Labour government to meet our moral obligation by suspending all arms sales to Israel until such a time that international humanitarian law is observed and respected,” it added.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.