Cameron says UK will not ban arms sales to Israel to stop full-scale Rafah attack
The Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has ruled out the UK banning arms sales to Israel amid growing concerns that a full-scale offensive could be launched in Rafah.
He said that halting arms sales was “not a wise path”, but suggested an invasion of Gaza’s southernmost city would be wrong “without a plan to protect people”.
US President Joe Biden announced last week that the US is “not supplying the weapons “if Israel went ahead with a planned invasion of Rafah, in a shift in its relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Asked whether the UK would echo the US’s threat of banning weapons sales to Israel if it invades Rafah, Cameron said that America was “in a totally different situation” as it provides significantly more weapons to Israel.
“The US is a massive, bulk, state supplier of weapons to Israel, including 1,000lb bombs,” he told Sky News. “The UK provides less than one per cent of Israel’s weapons and it’s not a state supplier.
“We have a licensing system and those licences can be closed if it’s judged there’s a risk of a serious international human rights violation.”
The Foreign Secretary said he was urged to declare an immediate arms embargo a few months ago, “and the very next thing that happened just a few days later, was a massive Iranian attack on Israel”.
“I don’t think it would have been a wise path, and I still don’t think it would be a wise path,” he said, adding it would only “strengthen Hamas”.
Israel’s operation in Rafah, which it has said is Hamas’s last significant stronghold, has ramped up in recent days.
Tensions have been growing between Israel and its long-time backer the US after a report by the country’s Department of State warned that it was “reasonable” to conclude that its ally had breached international law in its conduct during the war in Gaza.
The report also said that US-supplied arms were used in ways “inconsistent” with Israel’s obligations in the conflict.
The United Nations and other agencies have been warning for weeks that an Israeli assault on Rafah would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties.
Recent reports have suggested that the UK Government was considering deploying troops to land humanitarian supplies from a temporary pier being built by the US military in the region.
But Mr Cameron said putting British boots on the ground in Gaza as part of international efforts to deliver aid would be “a risk that we shouldn’t take”.