UK Sells $445 Million of Arms to Zionist Regime
LONDON (Dispatches) -- Britain has approved the sale of arms to the occupying regime of Israel worth $445 million since the 2014 Gaza war, including components for drones, combat aircraft and helicopters along with spare parts for sniper rifles, according to figures seen by Middle East Eye.
The government data will raise fresh concerns that British-made weapons are being used by the Zionist military in the Occupied Territories, amid fears that components in sniper rifles used to kill scores of Palestinian civilians in recent weeks could have been made in the UK.
Arms export licenses to Israel soared to £216 million, or $300 million at current exchange rates, last year from £20 million in the wake of the Gaza war, new Department for International Trade figures show.
They include a major £183 million license covering "technology for military radars", but ministers have also approved the sale for export of grenades, bombs, missiles, armored vehicles, assault rifles, small arms ammunition, sniper rifles and components for sniper rifles.
The value of arms approvals to the occupying regime of Israel more than doubled last year after £84 million in sales in 2016, prompting campaigners to warn that there is "little doubt" that UK-made weapons have been used in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade, or CAAT, which compiled the figures, expressed concern that UK-made radar technology could be used by Israeli jets and helicopters over the Occupied Territories.
However, it is the scale of small arms sales that have prompted fears UK-made sniper rifle components and targeting scopes may have been used by the Zionist military near the Gaza fence.
Labor MP Richard Burden, the chairman of the British-Palestine group in Parliament, told MEE that given the risk of weapons being used for "internal repression" in Gaza and the West Bank he was "alarmed by the scale of UK arms exports to Israel in recent years".
He added that he will be "pressing" ministers to launch an investigation into whether UK arms have been used in "the current Israeli military operations on the Gaza border".
Palestinian officials say at least 40 people have been killed by Zionist forces since the start of a six-week protest at the Israeli occupation, dubbed the Great March of Return, earlier this month.
The shootings prompted international outcry after it emerged Israeli snipers who shot Palestinians had positioned themselves alongside the Gaza security fence, with orders allowing them to shoot unarmed Palestinians who came within 100 yards.
The violence prompted Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn to call for a review of arms sales to the occupying regime of Israel in a message condemning its "illegal and inhumane" killing and wounding of "yet more unarmed Palestinian protesters".
Corbyn also called for the UK to support calls for an "independent and transparent" UN inquiry into the shootings and called for a review of the sale of UK-made arms that "could be used in violation of international law".
Andrew Smith, a spokesman for CAAT, told MEE: "There is little doubt that UK equipment has been used against the people of Gaza time and again, but that hasn't stopped successive governments from licensing even more arms to the Israeli military.
"The appalling scenes we have seen over recent weeks are yet another stark reminder of the repression and abuse that Palestinians are living under every day. The response to protests hasn't just been heavy-handed, it has been a massacre.
"By continuing to arm Israeli forces the UK isn't just making itself complicit in future attacks, it is sending a message of support for the collective punishment that has been inflicted.
"The situation is desperate, and the UK should be working for a peaceful and just solution, not pushing arms sales which can be used in abuses for years to come."
The government data will raise fresh concerns that British-made weapons are being used by the Zionist military in the Occupied Territories, amid fears that components in sniper rifles used to kill scores of Palestinian civilians in recent weeks could have been made in the UK.
Arms export licenses to Israel soared to £216 million, or $300 million at current exchange rates, last year from £20 million in the wake of the Gaza war, new Department for International Trade figures show.
They include a major £183 million license covering "technology for military radars", but ministers have also approved the sale for export of grenades, bombs, missiles, armored vehicles, assault rifles, small arms ammunition, sniper rifles and components for sniper rifles.
The value of arms approvals to the occupying regime of Israel more than doubled last year after £84 million in sales in 2016, prompting campaigners to warn that there is "little doubt" that UK-made weapons have been used in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade, or CAAT, which compiled the figures, expressed concern that UK-made radar technology could be used by Israeli jets and helicopters over the Occupied Territories.
However, it is the scale of small arms sales that have prompted fears UK-made sniper rifle components and targeting scopes may have been used by the Zionist military near the Gaza fence.
Labor MP Richard Burden, the chairman of the British-Palestine group in Parliament, told MEE that given the risk of weapons being used for "internal repression" in Gaza and the West Bank he was "alarmed by the scale of UK arms exports to Israel in recent years".
He added that he will be "pressing" ministers to launch an investigation into whether UK arms have been used in "the current Israeli military operations on the Gaza border".
Palestinian officials say at least 40 people have been killed by Zionist forces since the start of a six-week protest at the Israeli occupation, dubbed the Great March of Return, earlier this month.
The shootings prompted international outcry after it emerged Israeli snipers who shot Palestinians had positioned themselves alongside the Gaza security fence, with orders allowing them to shoot unarmed Palestinians who came within 100 yards.
The violence prompted Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn to call for a review of arms sales to the occupying regime of Israel in a message condemning its "illegal and inhumane" killing and wounding of "yet more unarmed Palestinian protesters".
Corbyn also called for the UK to support calls for an "independent and transparent" UN inquiry into the shootings and called for a review of the sale of UK-made arms that "could be used in violation of international law".
Andrew Smith, a spokesman for CAAT, told MEE: "There is little doubt that UK equipment has been used against the people of Gaza time and again, but that hasn't stopped successive governments from licensing even more arms to the Israeli military.
"The appalling scenes we have seen over recent weeks are yet another stark reminder of the repression and abuse that Palestinians are living under every day. The response to protests hasn't just been heavy-handed, it has been a massacre.
"By continuing to arm Israeli forces the UK isn't just making itself complicit in future attacks, it is sending a message of support for the collective punishment that has been inflicted.
"The situation is desperate, and the UK should be working for a peaceful and just solution, not pushing arms sales which can be used in abuses for years to come."