During the adjournment debate on 2 June Welsh Labour MP Steve Witherden demanded transparency and accountability -asking detailed questions about the UK’s potential complicity in genocide under international law.
The debate was the first on arms sales to Israel in the Commons Chamber since Israeli attacks on Gaza escalated in October 2023 following a Hamas attack on Israel.
Mr Witherden said during the debate: “The government have claimed that there are red lines that would trigger a halt to exports, but Gaza is already a slaughterhouse.
“Children are emaciated or dying of hunger, hospitals have been intentionally destroyed and Israel’s leaders vow to wipe out Gaza, and still the weapons flow, so finally, Minister, where is our red line?
“I call on this government to suspend all arms exports to Israel, to ensure that no British-made weapons are used in Israel’s brutal plans to annex, starve and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population.
“The credibility of this House depends not just on what we condemn, but on what we enable, and history will remember that we enabled too much.”
Both single and incorporation licences have increased since Labour took office, though 30 of the 350 export licences were suspended in September 2024.
It follows the Foreign Secretary last month calling Israeli military action in Gaza "morally unjustifiable" and “monstrous” while suspending trade talks and sanctioning several West Bank settlers.
Witherden asked the government to publish its most recent assessment of risk that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians, publishing the list of export licences still in effect, whether a new decision as been reached on continued arms sales, how the government defines weapons classed as ‘defensive in nature’ and why the government hadn’t suspended F-35 compononet shipments after admitting it was a “clear risk” of violating international law.
The Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security, Douglas Alexander MP, responded on behalf of the government, highlighting that it was not selling F-35 components directly to the Israeli authorities.
Mr Alexander told the Commons that the UK’s F-35 component exports were part of a global programme that was essential in the defence of NATO allies and maintaining European security.
He said: “The way in which Israel is conducting its operations is indefensible, disproportionate and counterproductive to any lasting peace settlement.”
Mr Alexander added that the government has also suspended negotiations on the upgraded free trade agreement with Israel.
MPs from across the House took part in the debate, with Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green, SNP, DUP, and Independent members all intervening.
The debate came as more than 765,000 people globally (and over 48,000 UK citizens) signed a viral open letter from Avaaz calling on the Prime Minister to sanction Israel and let aid reach Gazans, with the United Nations warning that the entire population was at risk of starvation due to Israel blocking most aid into Gaza and killing civilians at aid distribution hubs.
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