Claim UK Engines Powered Israeli Drone That Hit Convoy

Pressure mounts to halt arms sales as senior Tory describes airstrike as a tipping point in Israel’s collapsing reputation’

- BEL TREW, KIM SENGUPTA ,ARCHIE MITCHELL

Britain is accused of being complicit in Israel’s killing of seven aid workers in Gaza amid claims that weapons used in the attack were powered by UK-made engines.

Israel struck a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy carrying charity workers, including three Britons, with a Hermes 450 drone according to Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). It said the weapon - known as a "Zik" drone in Israel could have been powered by a British component.

The three British citizens killed were named on Tuesday as John Chapman, 57, James "Jim" Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

They were part of the security team. The deaths, described by Benjamin Netanyahu as "unintended", prompted an outpouring of anger as pressure grows on the British government to suspend arms transfers to Israel.

Senior Tory Sir Alan Duncan, a former foreign minister, was among those to speak out against the attack, describing it in The Independent as "a tipping point in Israel's collapsing reputation" and asking whether Britain should reconsider Israel as an ally.

Citing figures from the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry, he said: "As the death toll in Gaza has risen from 1,000 to 10,000 to 30,000, Israel's justification for this excess feels ever less convincing... Through its deceit and callousness, Israel has now lost the support of the world. Nobody any longer believes its statements."

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy joined the calls for the arms trade to cease, accusing his ministerial counterpart David Cameron of "going silent" on the question of whether or not Israel is complying with international humanitarian law in relation to the sales. "The law is clear," he said. "British arms licences cannot be granted if there is a clear risk."

Meanwhile: