Dramatically reduced UK support for arms sales licenses to Israel

, the statistics of the Export Control Unit of the Department of Trade and Commerce show British support for arms sales licenses to the Israeli regime after the start of the war in Gaza, has been greatly reduced. The British government provided to Reuters, the value of licenses for the sale of military equipment to the Israeli regime has decreased by more than 95%, which has become the lowest amount in the last 13 years.

This is despite the fact that after the start of Israel’s war with Hamas, America and Germany have increased the sale of weapons to Israel.

Meanwhile, government statistics show that the value of arms sales licenses to Israel, including small arms ammunition and warplane parts, during the same period in 2022, 20 million pounds.

Also, statistics show that in the same period of time in 2017, the British government sold 185 million pounds of weapons to Israel has confirmed that it includes parts of tanks and surface-to-air missiles, which is the highest number in this period of time among the statistics published since 2008.

According to this report, many of the permits approved in the period after the start of the war in Gaza were for goods with commercial uses or non-lethal goods such as bulletproof vests, military helmets or four-wheel drive vehicles with ballistic protection.

However, the Department of Trade and Commerce, which is responsible for approving export licenses, and the Foreign Office declined to comment on the matter. The Israeli Embassy in London has not yet responded to this issue.   

Israeli regime during 255 days from According to the official statistics of the Gaza Ministry of Health, the war against the Gaza Strip has killed 37,337 people and injured 85,299 people. The continuation of this war has caused the dishonor of the Israeli regime and its isolation at the global level and the escalation of internal disputes, as a result of which Netanyahu’s war cabinet was dissolved.

The release of this statistic comes at a time when members of the British Parliament and human rights groups criticized the government of this country for the lack of public information about the sale of arms to Israel has been criticized since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Israel’s claimed right to self-defense and an all-out response to Hamas.               

SUNAK has resisted calls to halt arms shipments to Israel, but has said the government adheres to strict licensing.   

Also, since the beginning of the war in Gaza, some countries such as Italy, Canada and the Netherlands have placed restrictions on arms sales to Israel due to concerns about how to use these weapons.

Meanwhile, last year Germany approved the sale of arms to Israel worth 326 million euros. This is 10 times more than in 2022 and the value of these licenses for the first quarter of this year is about 10 million euros.

It is expected that the British government will publish the information about the sale of arms to Israel in the first half of this year in the coming months.

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