Despite UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy promising that Britain would only export items to Israel “defensive in nature,” new research has suggested that British firms have continued to send Israel munitions and thousands of military items, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
The research, based on an analysis of trade data by the Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International and Workers for a Free Palestine, comes after the UK government suspended an arms export license to Israel in September.
The research claims to have found that 14 shipments of military items were sent to Israel since October 2023, including 13 by air to Ben-Gurion airport and one maritime delivery to Haifa of 160,000 items.
Since September 2024, 8,630 items were reportedly exported under the category “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof – other.”
Additionally, since September, 146 items exported were listed under “tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, motorised, whether or not fitted with weapons, and parts of such vehicles.”
The report also suggests that British firms have continued to sell F-35 parts to Israel directly, despite previous instructions to halt such sales.
British officials respond to reports about continued munition sales to Israel
Former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell responded to the report by insisting that it would be a resigning matter for Lammy if he misled parliament on the nature of exports to Israel.
McDonnell said: “The government has shrouded its arms supplies to Israel in secrecy. They must finally come clean in response to this extremely concerning evidence and halt all British arms exports to Israel to ensure no British-made weapons are used in Netanyahu’s new and terrifying plans to annex the Gaza Strip and ethnically cleanse the land.”
Lammy previously told Parliament that the shipments included things like “goggles and helmets for use by one of the UK’s closest allies.”
Zarah Sultana, the MP for Coventry South, said: “This explosive report shows the government has been lying to us about the arms it is supplying to Israel while it wages genocide in Gaza. Far from ‘helmets and goggles’, the government has been sending thousands of arms and ammunition goods.” Labour has withdrawn the party whip from Sultana because she voted against benefit cuts.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “This government has suspended relevant licences for the IDF that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
“Of the remaining licences for Israel, the vast majority are not for the Israeli Defence Forces but are for civilian purposes or re-export, and therefore are not used in the war in Gaza.
“The only exemption is the F-35 programme due to its strategic role in NATO and wider implications for international peace and security. Any suggestion that the UK is licensing other weapons for use by Israel in the war in Gaza is misleading.
“The UK totally opposes an expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. We urge all parties to return urgently to talks, implement the ceasefire agreement in full, secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, and work towards a permanent peace.”
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