3 April 2024
A British lawmaker called on the government Tuesday to launch an investigation into the Israeli killing of humanitarian aid workers in the Gaza Strip, saying the attack showed why Britain “should immediately suspend arms sales to Israel.”
In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Labour MP Richard Burgon demanded that the government immediately launch a full investigation into whether UK-supplied arms were used in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Monday that killed seven aid workers with the food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), including three British nationals.
Earlier Tuesday, World Central Kitchen confirmed that seven of its humanitarian aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
The workers were nationals of Australia, Poland, the UK and Palestine as well as a US-Canadian dual citizen.
“This attack once again underlines why the UK should immediately suspend arms sales to Israel, given the role these could be playing in such deadly attacks on Gaza and even in war crimes carried out by the Israeli government,” said the member of parliament for East Leeds.
After the targeted attack, the group said it was pausing operations in the region.
Burgon said that since 2015, the UK has licensed at least £474 million ($596 million) worth of military exports to Israel, including components for combat aircraft, missiles, tanks, technology, small arms and ammunition.
“The UK provides approximately 15% of the components in the F-35 stealth bomber aircraft currently being used to indiscriminately drop bombs on Gaza,” he recalled, stressing that “this is also the latest incident where UK military exports may have been used in attacks on British nationals.”
He also wrote a letter last month calling for an investigation into whether UK-supplied military components had been used in the Israeli bombing of a compound housing British doctors volunteering in Gaza in January.
“Your Government has a responsibility to produce a swift and transparent investigation into both incidents to determine whether UK arms exports are being used in attacks on British nationals and to present this urgently to Parliament,” he added.
In addition to killing nearly 33,000 people since Oct. 7, the Israel offensive and siege of the Gaza Strip has been blamed for near-famine conditions among over 2 million Palestinians there and for attacks killing both aid workers and civilians seeking humanitarian aid.
