UK foreign secretary Lord David Cameron has opposed halting arms exports to Israel, saying it is “not a wise path” as it could risk strengthening Hamas.
The former British Prime Minister said he was urged to declare an immediate arms embargo a few months ago and there was a massive Iranian attack on Israel just a few days later.
“I don’t think it would have been a wise path, and I still don’t think it would be a wise path,” he told Sky News on Sunday, adding it would only “strengthen Hamas”.
Concerns have risen over the past few days as Israel has signalled a potential offensive into Rafah, telling Gazans in the Palestinian city to evacuate.
But the US has threatened to cut its arms supply to Israel if the country goes through with the attack because the US State Department said on Friday there was “reasonable” evidence that Israel had breached international law protecting civilians.
The UK’s arms export regime prioritises preventing violations of international humanitarian law.
But Cameron said the two nations are “in a totally different situation”.
“The United States is a massive, bulk, state supplier of weapons to Israel, including 1,000lb bombs and all the rest of it.
“The UK provides less than 1 per cent of Israel’s weapons and it’s not a state supplier. We have a licensing system and those licences can be closed if it’s judged there’s a serious risk of a serious international human rights violation,” he explained.
Labour has called for a pause in arms sales to prevent escalation in Rafah. Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News: “We do not want this Rafah offensive to go ahead, it would be completely catastrophic.
“The Americans have said they are not going to hand over arms which could be used in a Rafah offensive. I am saying that we should adopt a similar position. We should not sell British-made weapons or components that should be used in this Rafah offensive,” he added.