UK calls for a complete ban on arms exports to Israel — The National

At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, UK, MPs and activists called on the government to introduce a complete ban on arms exports to Israel, expand sanctions and increase pressure on Israel. The National reports.

Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan said at an event held as part of the conference that the government must continue its steps following the recent decision to impose sanctions on settlers. She called for a complete halt to arms trade with Israel and for loopholes allowing the supply of military equipment, including under the F-35 fighter jet programme, to be closed.

Calls for new sanctions

Allin-Khan, who worked as a doctor in the occupied Palestinian territories, also called for a trade ban on illegal settlements in the West Bank to be implemented as soon as possible and for Israel's accountability for its actions toward Palestinians to be strengthened.

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UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband previously said at the conference that the government had condemned what he called ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank. He also said there was evidence of war crimes in Gaza and called the occupation of Palestine illegal. Addressing party members who demanded a tougher policy, Miliband said that the government had heard their demands and acknowledged that they were right.

Aid for Gaza

Allin-Khan said that the UK must create a coalition of like-minded states and use its influence to deliver necessary medical equipment to the Palestinian territories, primarily to Gaza. According to figures cited by The National, 174,000 people were injured in the war there, while 50,000 suffered life-changing injuries; one-third of them are children.

Asil Baydoun, deputy director of advocacy at Medical Aid for Palestinians, positively assessed the change in the position of the British authorities, but noted that nothing had changed on the ground. She called on London to impose additional sanctions, suspend the free trade agreement with Israel and recognise, in her words, the realities of apartheid.