“Ban on supplying arms to Israel will strengthen Hamas,” said UK Foreign Secretary

The foreign secretary has said that prohibiting the UK from supplying Israel with weapons will only make Hamas stronger.

He stated on Sunday that stopping military sales is “not a wise path” and would only help Hamas.

When asked if the United Kingdom would follow the United States in threatening to cut off Israel’s supply of offensive weapons in the event that it launched an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Foreign Secretary David Cameron responded that the two nations could not be compared because, in contrast to the United States, Britain provides very little of Israel’s armaments.

He added that only 1% of weapons are supplied by Britain, and that Israel must do more to protect civilians and allow the delivery of humanitarian goods. Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth announced his opposition to the use of UK-made weapons in Rafah. 

Why Stop Arms Supply To Israel?

When US President Joe Biden said this week that the US “would not supply weapons” if Israel carried out its planned attack on Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than 1.4 million people have sought refuge, he upended one of the most important strategic links in the world. 

Britain’s opposition Labor Party and human rights groups have argued that Britain should take a similar stance and stop selling British weapons or components to the Rafah offensive. The US government said on Friday that Israel’s use of US-supplied weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law. But he added that wartime conditions prevented US officials from specifying that in certain airstrikes.

According to the United Nations, more than 80,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah since Monday as Israeli tanks reportedly massed near the populated areas. Despite warnings from the United States and other partners that a ground attack could cause a humanitarian crisis and massive civilian casualties, Israel said it would carry out the planned operations in Rafah.

The country’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has promised to disband the Hamas brigades, which he says are close to Rafah. 

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Lord Cameron said he would not defend the Rafah attack until he had a chance to see Israel’s “plan to protect people”. But he argued that the US and the UK are in a “completely different position”, with the US being the “main supplier of government weapons”. 

Although the British government does not sell arms directly to Israel, it does grant licenses to the arms industry on legal advice. On the other hand, the United States sells weapons through less stringent intergovernmental agreements. 

After three Britons were killed in an airstrike on aid workers in Gaza, Lord Cameron said “a few days later Iran attacked Israel”. It was the last time he was asked to stop selling arms to Israel.”Just announcing today that we are changing our approach to arms exports would strengthen Hamas and make a hostage situation less likely,” he continues. 

Instead, he said he wanted to focus on “working every day” to bring aid to Gaza. The US State Department released an investigation on Friday that found Israel may have violated international humanitarian law during the Gaza war by using US-supplied weapons.

When Lord Cameron was asked if he agreed with the findings, he said Israel’s “record is not good enough”, arguing that the country “has not been healthy” when it comes to receiving humanitarian aid. But Lord Cameron said Britain had a different approach and was “not really interested in sending messages” through political means such as ending arms sales. 

Lord Cameron said: “I am interested in what we can do to maximize the pressure on the British people and an outcome that helps people in their lives – including the release of hostages, including British citizens.” He called it “a risk we shouldn’t take” and rejected the idea of ​​deploying British troops to Gaza.