ARAB AND WORLD
Wed 03 Apr 2024 9:30 pm - Jerusalem Time
Sunak warns Netanyahu against considering “Israel” a state that violates international humanitarian law
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Britain might announce that it considers Israel a state violating international humanitarian law, in charged phone conversations between the two, which took place last night, against the backdrop of the killing of seven aid workers in the organization. World Central Kitchen", in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, on Monday night.
This came according to what was reported by Israeli Channel 13, this evening, Wednesday. She noted that Sunak warned Netanyahu, saying: “If there is no change in bringing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, we will have to declare Israel in violation of international humanitarian law.” Netanyahu responded: “In the coming days, we will increase the volume of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and we are working on a large-scale aid program.”
The report indicated that the British Prime Minister asked Netanyahu to allow visits to Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons in order to verify their health condition in light of the ongoing attacks and violations to which they are exposed. Netanyahu replied, "It is difficult to allow visits while the hostages (Israeli in Gaza) are being subjected to atrocities."
According to Channel 13, Netanyahu ended the conversation with Sunak on this issue by saying: “I will look into the matter.” In Netanyahu's office's comment on the report, it said, "The Prime Minister expressed his regret over the killing of the volunteers, but insisted on achieving Israeli interests within the framework of the war."
The British government is facing increasing pressure to suspend arms export licenses to Israel, after the recent crime of targeting international relief crews, which resulted in the deaths of three Britons and four other people, all of whom worked for a charity that distributes aid to the people of Gaza.
Britain's strategic licensing standards stipulate that weapons should not be exported when there is a "clear risk" that they could be used to violate international humanitarian law, noting that London has approved arms sales worth more than 487 million pounds ($614 million) to Israel since 2015. Within the framework of so-called single-issue licenses.
British companies are also exporting more weapons to Israel under open licences, according to arms control groups. This includes contributing key equipment worth tens of millions of pounds to 1000 fighter aircraft.
American-made F-35 that was sold to Israel.
Two days after the Israeli raid that killed seven employees of the American charity World Central Kitchen, two opposition parties and a number of lawmakers renewed their demands on the British government to suspend arms exports, including former British National Security Advisor Peter Ricketts, who now holds a seat in the House of Lords. British.
"I think it's time to send that signal," Ricketts told the BBC. He added that there is now "ample evidence that Israel has not paid sufficient attention to fulfilling its obligations regarding the safety of civilians." For its part, he urged the Scottish National Party, which is represented by 43 deputies in the House of Commons, to summon representatives during the Easter holiday to discuss this issue and vote on it.
But Prime Minister Sunak appears to be indifferent to these demands. He told The Sun newspaper on Wednesday that London has a “rigorous export licensing system.” He said: “There is a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we will always follow,” without providing further details on how to apply them in light of what Israel did.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has repeatedly been called upon to publish an internal legal advisory opinion from his department on arms exports. But the State Department has so far refused to do so. If it decides that there is now a clear risk that Israel may use the weapons in a "serious breach of international humanitarian law", Cameron will recommend to the Department for Business and Trade that the licenses be suspended.
The Labor opposition, which is expected to regain power in the next election, later this year, has urged the government to publish internal legal advice.
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Sunak warns Netanyahu against considering “Israel” a state that violates international humanitarian law