UK breaks with US to suspend 30 arms export licences to Israel

Decision announced anid fears of violation of international law

- Patrick Wintour

The UK has broken with the Biden administration on a significant part of their tightly coordinated policy towards Israel by announcing it is suspending some arms exports licences to Israel owing to a "clear risk" that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

The Foreign Office said a twomonth internal review had raised concerns about the way Israel had conducted itself in the conflict in Gaza and that the decision specifically related to concerns over the treatment of Palestinian detainees and the supply of aid to Gaza.

No definitive conclusion has been reached about whether UK arms export licences have contributed to the destruction in the territory. But the scale of the destruction and the number of civilian deaths caused great concern, the Foreign Office said.

The suspension, which is likely to cause tensions with the US government, covers components for military aircraft, helicopters, drones and targeting equipment.

The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it applied to 30 of the 350 extant arms licences, but would almost entirely exclude all UK components for the F-35 fighter jet programme, seen as a major loophole by pro-Palestinian groups.

F-35 parts have been exempted, officials say, because they are part of a global programme and the UK does not have unilateral control of these parts, which are sent to the US. They will, however, not be exempt on the rare occasion where the part is being sent directly to Israel.

Lammy, aware of the sensitivity of the issue in Israel and the US, stressed that his decision had been taken more in sorrow than anger, adding that the conclusion did not amount to a full arms embargo, and did not even go as far as suspension of licences made by Margaret Thatcher in 1982.