CIVICUS discusses the UK’s partial ban on arms sales to Israel with Emily Apple, Media Coordinator at the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), a UK-based civil society organisation working to end the international arms trade.
In response to campaigning and litigation, the UK government recently imposed a partial ban on arms sales to Israel. However, it only cancelled 30 out of 350 licences, which civil society sees as largely symbolic and insufficient. Civil society had challenged UK arms exports to Israel at the High Court, arguing that many of these exports contribute to war crimes and human rights abuses in Gaza. While the ban is a step in the right direction, it falls short because it doesn’t apply to other key exports, such as parts for F-35 jets that are being used to drop bombs on Gaza.
