UK Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the UK will not copy the US and stop any arms sales to Israel if it carries out a major ground invasion in Rafah. The UK foreign secretary explained that although he did not support Israel’s intentions to send troops into Rafah, ending arms sales would make Hamas stronger. He added that the UK only supplies around 1% of Israel’s weapons. These comments were made in response to US President Joe Biden, who announced earlier this week that the US would not supply weapons to Israel if it carried out a planned invasion of Rafah.
Despite opposition from the US and other allies, Israel is proceeding with its planned operations in Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to “eliminate” Hamas battalions stationed in the area, despite warnings that a ground offensive could result in mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis. Speaking on Sunday, Lord Cameron stated that he would not support a full-scale offensive on Rafah until a detailed plan on how civilians would be protected was provided.
Lord Cameron explained that the US is in a different position from the UK, as it is a major state supplier of weaponry. The last time he was urged to end weapons sales to Israel, when three Britons were killed in an air strike on aid workers in Gaza, “a few days later there was a brutal attack by Iran on Israel”. He argued that changing approaches on arms exports would make Hamas stronger and make a hostage deal less likely.
He stated that he wanted to focus on hammering away every day on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza, rather than engaging in message sending. Senior Labour shadow cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth commented that he did not “want to see British-made weapons used in that offensive” if a full-scale invasion of Rafah were to go ahead.
Lord Cameron emphasised the importance of maximising British pressure to help people, including getting hostages and British nationals released. The UK’s stance on supplying arms to Israel remains unchanged
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