By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - UK-based charity Oxfam on Tuesday criticized the UK government for approval of more than 100 export licenses for the sale of weapons and military equipment to Israel since Oct. 7, 2023.
"It is a comprehensive failure in the UK’s moral leadership and the values of humanity for which this country is still known on the global stage that the Government has granted more than 100 new licenses for arms sales to Israel," Oxfam Chief Executive Halima Begum said in a statement.
She said it is also "a remarkable feat of intellectual compromise" for the British government to talk about peace in Gaza while facilitating the supply of even greater flows of weapons to one of the sides.
"This has occurred in the unequivocal knowledge that tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian children and their parents are being killed by Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza," Begum said.
Expressing that innocent Gazans face relentless bombardment, growing hunger and the destruction of hospitals, schools, and other vital humanitarian infrastructures, she pointed out that there is nowhere left for the civilians to run.
"Compounding the unimaginable suffering that will inevitably result from the granting of these licenses, the UK government has also allowed hundreds of existing arms licenses to remain current without questioning a single one," the chief executive said.
"By continuing to sell arms to Israel, the UK Government is helping to fuel this dreadful conflict and it needs to urgently change course," she added.
Begum stressed that immediately suspending all licenses for sales of arms and military equipment would send a "powerful message" that the UK is serious about pushing for the lasting cease-fire.
According to new data released by the Department for Business and Trade on early Tuesday, the UK has issued 108 arms export licenses to Israel since Oct. 7, while over 300 licenses were still active as of May this year.