BRITAIN’S complicity in Israeli war crimes “will not be without consequence”, the UK Government has been warned.
SNP MP Brendan O’Hara gave an excoriating overview of the UK’s involvement with Israel’s bombardment of Gaza since last October.
More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza strip in the last 14 months, local authorities announced on Monday.
Despite a partial arms embargo on Israel because of fears UK-made weapons are being used to commit war crimes, including the mass killings of civilians and the targeting of homes, hospitals and schools, Israel continues to benefit from a significant caveat in the British arms ban.
Parts for F-35 fighter jets, used to bomb Gaza, are exempt from the ban. The planes are vital for Israel to continue its onslaught, according to campaigners.
Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate on Monday, where MPs considered a petition calling for the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood and another demanding a full arms embargo, O’Hara said the Government was “choosing to deny the evidence of their own eyes” by continuing to arm Israel.
He said: “So much of what’s happened since October [2023] has been a violation of international law.
“Indeed, [former foreign secretary] David Cameron let it slip at the Foreign Affairs Committee, that the UK has long known that [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu was imposing a collective punishment against the population by controlling their water supply.
"We had hoped that things would be different with a change of government; it has not been the case. And by choosing to deny the evidence of their own eyes in order to supply Netanyahu with the weapons he needs, the UK is complicit and is giving Netanyahu and his government a degree of international respectability that he desperately craves.”
O’Hara said that Britain’s support for Israel to date is a “shameful episode” in the history of UK foreign policy and one that “will long be remembered and will not be without consequence”.
He added: “When it comes to international law, everyone can see the blatant application of double standards.”
O’Hara contrasted Britain’s refusal to condemn Israeli war crimes, allegations of which have triggered the issue of arrest warrants of Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, with the condemnation of Russia for bombing Ukrainian schools and hospitals.
