The British government has temporarily stopped the supply of arms to Israel.
The British government said in a statement on Monday that it is suspending the export of some weapons to Israel because they could be used to violate international law and human rights.
British Foreign Secretary David Lemmy said there was a “clear risk” that some of the items could be “used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.”
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Britain is among a number of long-standing allies of Israel whose governments are under increasing pressure to freeze arms exports because of the 11-month-old war in Gaza.
Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Hamas-controlled territory, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
British companies sell a relatively small amount of arms and parts to Israel.
Earlier this year, the British government said military exports to Israel would be 42 million pounds ($53 million) in 2022.
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Britain’s centre-left Labor government, elected in July, is facing pressure from some of its own members and lawmakers to put more pressure on Israel to end the violence.
The party lost several seats it had hoped to win in the election, but leader Keir Starmer initially called for a ceasefire after Israel retaliated for an October 7 attack by Hamas. refused to do so, on which those seats were taken away from them.
In a departure from the stance of its conservative predecessor, Starmer’s government said in July that Britain would not intervene in an application by the International Criminal Court for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Starmer also restored funding for the UN’s Palestine relief agency UNRWA, which had been suspended by the government of his conservative predecessor Rishi Singh in January.