SIGN THE PETITION: Stop Arming Israel – end the sale of F-35 combat aircraft parts currently used in Gaza
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The government suspension of exports to Israel must apply to all weapons including components for the F-35 combat aircraft currently being used in the genocidal assault on Gaza.
On Monday 2 September, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that 30 arms export licenses to Israel will be suspended. This decision is testament to the tireless campaigning efforts and enormous public pressure of recent months, but it does not go far enough.
The government has now conceded that Israel is engaged in widespread violations of international law and there is a ‘clear risk’ that arms exported to Israel could be used for that purpose.
Inexplicably, however, it has been announced that these criteria will not apply consistently to all arms licenses. Although it will no longer be permitted to export components for the F-35 combat aircraft directly to Israel, the sale of the same components indirectly to Israel via the USA has been explicitly exempted.
Recently, Danish news outlet Information, together with NGO Danwatch, definitively confirmed the use by Israel of an F-35 stealth fighter to carry out at least one specific massacre in an Israeli-designated ‘safe zone’ in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, killing 90 people and injuring at least 300.
In his statement, David Lammy suggested that suspending these licenses would disrupt the global supply chain for the F-35, which would impact on Britain and other countries. Global supply chains are no excuse for the government to fail to stand by its international obligations to prevent genocide and uphold international law. Even so, it is perfectly possible for the government to amend the licence to prevent the indirect supply of these parts specifically to Israel.
We, the undersigned, call on the government to apply the principles of international law to all arms export licenses.