• A former national security adviser says it’s ‘a pity the government could not have taken a stand on this’ after criticising Rishi Sunak
• The prime minister is reportedly facing pressure from within his own party to immediately suspend arms to Israel.
Amidst the bloodiest phase of the Gaza genocide, the US has for once taken a firmer stance on Israel by pausing the delivery of 3,500 munitions. More than half of these munitions are 2,000-pound bombs, which, when dropped on civilian areas, can cause severe civilian casualties. Although this pause does not take into account arm shipments of other kinds, such as the sale of drones or missiles, Biden himself warned Israel that if Israel pushes into Rafah, it will stop supplying bombs and artillery shells.
Biden said to CNN, “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah—they haven’t gone into Rafah yet—if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities—that deal with that problem.” Rafah is now home to at least 1.4 million people, making it the most densely populated area of the Gaza Strip. Before October 7th, the population was much lower, but as refugees from around Gaza flocked to what was then deemed ‘safe zones’ by Israel, the majority of Gaza’s population ended up in the south, only to be pushed time and time again by the Israeli military until they reached Rafah. Rafah is deemed the last stronghold of Hamas in the Gaza strip, according to Israel, and houses four battalions within the city.
With 1.5 million people in Rafah, that accounts for the majority of Gaza’s 2.2 million population residing in Rafah. UN officials have said that an attack on Rafah will collapse the aid operation that is keeping the entirety of Gaza’s population alive and potentially push Palestinians into greater starvation and mass death. Analysts have already described this phase of the war as the bloodiest because of the high civilian casualty rate expected. Now, along with the mass famine not seen in Gaza’s history, it may well also be the most apocalyptic.
The UK’s reluctance to ban arm sales even after the US takes a pullback
A former national security adviser, Peter Cricket, has criticised Rishi Sunak for failing to suspend arms sales to Israel after the US paused its bomb shipment over night. Peter Crickett, a cross-bench peer, said Britain should have been ‘ahead of the US’ on the decision.
Lord Crickett said, “It was a pity the government could not have taken a stand on this and got out ahead of the US. That remains the step I think the UK should take.” Former Tory cabinet minister and Tory MP David Jones echoed the call, saying, “We should give similar consideration to a pause. Anyone viewing the distressing scenes in Gaza will want to see an end to the fighting. Hamas is, in reality, beaten. Now is the time for diplomacy to bring this dreadful conflict to an end.” Another Tory MP, Mark Logan, said, “I have said the fighting must end now, [and] many of my constituents in Bolton have consistently called for an immediate ceasefire. The UK should have no part in an offensive in Rafah.” This increase in Tory MPs calling for an end to fighting highlights the growing pressure on Rishi Sunak to back an immediate permanent ceasefire, something neither it nor the opposition Labour Party have taken action to implement.
The blistering Prime Minister questions that highlight the desensitisation of society
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was challenged on the issue of arm sales to Israel during Wednesday’s Prime Ministers Questions. The main opposition in parliament, the Labour Party, was almost silent on the matter, with their leader, Kier Starmer, not uttering a word to stop or ban arm sales to Israelor even mentioning the ongoing genocide. However, the SNP leader (the Scottish national party) Stephen Flynn had asked the Prime Minister, “As we await the imminent Israeli incursion into Rafah, with [its] 1.6 million children, it has been reported the US has paused an arms shipment. The UK will follow suit won’t it?”. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Sunak had rejected the call to stop arm sales to Israel, saying ministers had recently assessed Israel’s assessment of international law and the situation was unchanged.
What countries have halted arms shipments to Israel?
Canada’s government had said on March 20th that it had stopped licencing arms exports to Israel since January 8th and the freeze would continue until government can ensure the weapons are being used in accordance to humanitarian law.
The Dutch government in the Netherlands also halted shipments of parts of F-35 jets to Israel from warehouses in the Netherlands in February after an appeals court ruling determined that there was a risk the parts were being used for violations of humanitarian law. The government is appealing the ruling.
Italy is one of the biggest arms suppliers to Israel, and according to a foreign ministry source who spoke to Reuters, the country’s government has halted new export licenses since the Gaza genocide. Under Italian law, arms exports are banned to countries that are waging war and those deemed to be violating international human rights. In March, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Italy has continued to export arms to Israel but that only previously signed orders were being honoured after checks had been made to ensure the weaponry would not be used against Gaza civilians.
Although the US has halted some arm shipments, it is still the largest supplier of arms to Israel, with Germany ranking second. The UK has time and time again said that they are in favour of a ‘pause’ in the fighting in Gaza but has taken little action to ensure that it happens with no added pressure from an economic or arms embargo. Even after the US, Israel’s closest ally, has halted some arm shipments, surely the UK should follow suit by halting arm exports? Unfortunately, it seems as though the UK government has failed to bring its ally in the Middle East to a standstill and has been less instrumental and impactful than the US in this regard.
