A PARTLY UK-made jet was used in an Israeli attack that killed dozens of Gaza civilians, campaigners have claimed.
It comes after an investigation by a Danish news outlet yesterday (Sunday) claimed to have proven it definitively.
The Information newspaper, alongside the NGO Danwatch, said the Israeli military confirmed to them that an F-35 stealth fighter – which a number of UK arms firms, including BAE Systems, contribute parts to – was used in an attack on July 13 near the Al-Mawasi refugee camp in southern Gaza.
The attack was estimated to have killed at least 90 Palestinians, among them women and children, and injured over 300.
Israel said at the time that Hamas top leaders, including Mohammed Deif, were the targets.
Today (Monday), Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK will be suspending 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel, due to a “clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
He said: "It is with regret that I inform the house today that the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law."
But he added: "This is not a blanket ban, this is not an arms embargo."
Lammy also specified that the suspension only applied to items being used in the “current conflict” – and confirmed that licences for F-35 jets were exempted.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said the move is a "belated but welcome" move but hit out at this exemption.
"Exempting parts for Israel’s F-35 is utterly outrageous and unjustifiable. These are by far the UK’s most significant arms supplies to the Israeli military, and just today we have confirmation that they have been used in one of the most egregious attacks in recent months," said researcher Sam Perlo-Freedman.
He added: "The government has admitted that there is a ‘clear risk’ that Israel is using fighter aircraft among other weapons to violate international humanitarian law. How can this ‘clear risk’ not apply to the F-35s? The only right and legal course of action is to end the supply of F-35 parts to Israel, along with the rest of UK arms sales.”
A statement from Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, meanwhile, highlighted that the F-35 is an aircraft that operates globally and "forms a key capability in the militaries of many of our allies".
He added that the F-35 international collaborative programme has a "significant dependence" on the UK which means it is currently "not possible to suspend licensing of F35 components for use by Israel without prejudicing the entire programme, including its broader strategic role in NATO and our support to Ukraine".
