Three former Supreme Court judges join around 600 lawyers, judges and jurists in calling for serious breaches of international law
Three former UK Supreme Court judges join with around 600 lawyers, judges and jurists asking the country's government to stop arms sales to Israel, considering that otherwise London might be complicit in genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has come under increasing political pressure following the deaths of seven aid workers, three of them British, who were killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip earlier this year. week.
“The provision of military aid and material to Israel may make Britain complicit in genocide as well as serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the judges and lawyers said in their 17-page letter. “International law recognizes the concept of 'aiding and abetting' an illegal act,” they added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the accusations of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip “outrageous” and has emphasized “(the country's) unwavering commitment to international law”.
One of the former judges, Jonathan Sumption, told BBC radio that he was concerned that the British government seemed to have forgotten that it had to prevent a genocide.
Britain sells explosive devices, assault rifles and military aircraft to Israel, although exports to Israel represented in 2022 just 0.4% of total British military exports.
The lawyers cited the fact that the International Court of Justice in The Hague in January called on Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Shunak has resisted calls for Britain to immediately stop arms sales to Israel, noting that London follows “a very careful licensing regime” for exports of military equipment, which it still adheres to.
But the death of aid workers< /strong>Â has increased international pressure on Israel, nearly six months after the outbreak of war that began after a bloody attack by Hamas.
More than 33,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children– have since been killed in Israeli army operations in the Gaza Strip.
