MPs call again on Government to stop sending ‘weapons of destruction’ to Israel
Sir Keir Starmer has previously ruled out a total ban on arms sales to Israel.
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Your support makes all the difference.The Government has been accused of sending aid to Gaza while also “providing the weapons of destruction” as MPs again called for an end of UK arms sales to Israel.
Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, secured a Westminster hall debate on humanitarian aid and Gaza, where he said Israel “has weaponised the denial of aid” to Palestinians.
Sir Keir Starmer has previously ruled out a total ban on arms sales to Israel, amid claims such a move could aid Gaza ceasefire efforts.
The Prime Minister said a complete ban would cover arms being used for defensive purposes, adding this would be the “wrong position” for the UK to adopt given Iran’s recent ballistic missile attack on Israel.
The UK Government has previously suspended around 30 arms exports to Israel over concerns they could be used in violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict.
During the debate on Thursday, Mr Khan said the collective punishment being inflicted on Gazans is “shocking”, and that his debate was about “those being killed, not by weapons but by lack of basic humanitarian assistance”
He told MPs: “Israel has weaponised the denial of aid, pushing the remaining Palestinians to the brink of death.
“The health crisis in Gaza is devastating.
“Since October 7 at least 10 children per day have limbs amputated, many without anaesthesia.”
He added: “This isn’t a case of shortage of aid as we all know. We have all seen thousands of trucks lined up on the border, it’s a deliberate act.
“Israeli authorities are intentionally limiting the supply of vital aid.”
How can we send aid on the one hand, whilst providing the weapons of destruction with the other?
Mr Khan further stated: “There are no red lines for Netanyahu’s government.
“The actions of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) over the past 369 days are not those of a moral army as Israel claims but one that has crossed every moral and legal boundary.”
Independent MP for Blackburn Adnan Hussain said that “questions must be raised as to the absurdity of a situation in which we as a country provide both the aid and the weapons to bomb the besieged people of Gaza”
Mr Khan then welcomed the Government’s restoration of funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) but said more aid needed to be provided, and reiterated calls for an end to arms sales.
He said: “How can we send aid on the one hand, whilst providing the weapons of destruction with the other?”
Independent MP for Islington North and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said Israel was using weapons from the UK to “destroy human life in breach of all aspects of international humanitarian law”.
He said: “The answer has to be a political one. Why are we still supplying arms to Israel, knowing full well that those arms in contravention of ICJ rulings are actually being used to bomb civilian targets in Gaza?
“War crimes are being committed before our very eyes on our televisions every night.”
Labour MP John McDonnell, who is currently listed as an independent after losing the Labour whip for voting to scrap the two child benefit cap, said he has repeatedly written to both the previous and current Government to set up a scheme to treat injured Gazan children in the UK, as was established for children injured in the war in Ukraine.
He said: “Children are dying as a result and we can’t stand to one side.”
Responding to the debate Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer said the Government’s position is that humanitarian access to Gaza “remains wholly inadequate”.
He said: “There have been repeated attacks on convoys, evacuation orders have undermined operations, and aid is far below Israel’s commitment to flood Gaza with aid.”
Responding to claims that Israel was not abiding with the UK’s request for aid to be free-flowing into Gaza, Mr Falconer said: “These points are being made with force, with emphasis, with consistency.”
The Foreign Office minister, who has previously worked as a diplomat, responded to Mr McDonnell’s proposed evacuation scheme by claiming that when he was working in the Middle East in 2014 he was “not able to find children who would not be better served in the region” by being treated in a neighbouring country such as Egypt.