CNN — London (CNN) — Pressure is mounting on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to halt arms sales to Israel following a deadly attack on a convoy of aid workers in Gaza.
Calls have grown for Mr Sunak to end arms deliveries to Israel after Monday's Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen staff, three of them British nationals.
The government is awaiting legal advice from lawyers on whether arms sales to Israel violate international law. Mr Sunak is also under pressure to publish legal advice he has received regarding whether the Israeli government has violated international law through its actions in Gaza.
A recording was released over the weekend of Alicia Kearns, chair of the UK Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee, saying she believed the government had been advised that Israel's actions were unlawful and had refused to make them public. Stated.
After the leak, Kearns stood by the report, saying in a statement: “I remain convinced that the government has completed its latest assessment of whether Israel has demonstrated a commitment to international humanitarian law and has concluded that Israel has not demonstrated this commitment,” it said in a legal decision. need to be lowered. ”
The ruling Conservative Party has historically supported Israel, but the killing of the British national has changed the domestic debate.
On Thursday, more than 600 lawyers, jurists and former members of the British judiciary wrote to Mr Sunak, saying: “To avoid complicity in the UK in serious breaches of international law, including potential breaches of the Genocide Convention, He warned that serious action was needed. ”
“We welcome your government's increasingly robust demands for a cessation of fighting and unimpeded entry into Gaza for humanitarian assistance, but at the same time and continue to sell weapons and weapons systems to the United States,” the letter said. Continuing to threaten to cut off Israel and the UK's aid to UNRWA falls far short of your Government's obligations under international law. ”
The three main opposition parties – Labor, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party – have all called for arms sales to Israel to be halted if government lawyers say they are illegal, and have asked Mr Sunak to explain why no sales have yet taken place. I'm asking you to explain.
Mr. Sunak took a tougher stance in a recent phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a readout of the government's phone call on Tuesday, Mr Sunak said he was “appalled by the killing of aid workers, including three British nationals”, adding: “We are looking forward to a thorough and transparent investigation into what happened. called for an independent investigation.
“Too many aid workers and civilians have lost their lives in Gaza, and the situation is becoming increasingly intolerable,” Sunak said in a statement from Downing Street. He reiterated that the objective cannot be achieved by condoning the actions of humanitarians.” The Gaza disaster. ”
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said earlier this week that defense sales from the UK to Israel were “relatively small” compared to the amount of arms from the US and Germany. But Britain still has more than $725 million worth of weapons authorized, according to parliamentary estimates.
Diplomatically, this would be an important step for the country, which is Israel's main ally and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It would also distinguish Britain from many of its allies, including the United States and Germany, if it were to act unilaterally.
Suspending sales would also be politically difficult domestically, as not everyone in Sunak's own government or party is likely to support him.
The family of one of the aid workers who killed former Royal Marine James Henderson has criticized Britain's arms sales to Israel. Their brother told the London Times on their behalf that accountability was their “only hope for justice”.
“While I do not believe that our government will hold the right people accountable, I do not believe that our government will sell weapons to Israel that could in turn be used to kill our fellow citizens. Guarantee.
“That's hard to understand.”
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