Zarah Sultana has posted to X: "Described as 'the most lethal fighter jet in the world', every Israeli F-35 is made in part here in the UK.
"I, alongside 36 MPs, have written to the government raising concerns about complicity in violations of international law by not suspending export licences for F-35 parts:"
Zarah Sultana's letter in full to Foreign Secretary, David Lammy.
Sent via email
13 September 2024
Dear Foreign Secretary, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and Defence Secretary,
We write to you as cross-party parliamentarians following the government's announcement on 2 September 2024 to suspend around 30 out of 350 export licences to Israel for items that could be used in the current conflict in Gaza, as there is a clear risk that they may be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
The previous government's refusal to act on this matter was unacceptable, flagrantly disregarding the rights of the Palestinian people, domestic law, and international law. This moral and legal outrage became particularly pronounced following the International Court of Justice's ruling on 26 January 2024 that Israel is "plausibly" acting in breach of the rights and obligations set out under the Genocide Convention, and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court issuing an application on 20 May 2024 for arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in Gaza) from at least 8 October 2023 including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime. The Prosecutor made these applications, and those against Hamas officials, on the basis that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Criterion 2C of the UK's Strategic Export Licensing Criteria states that the government must "not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law." As the government's announcement of 2 September 2024 makes clear, the decision to suspend some arms licences acknowledges arms exported to Israel might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.
We welcome the new government's recognition of this fact, but we believe the announcement does not go far enough, risking continued UK complicity in Israel's grave violations international law in the illegally occupied West Bank and Gaza. This is particularly true regarding the decision to exempt the F-35 fighter jet programme from the suspension of arms exports, except for those going directly to Israel.
Described by their manufacturer as "the most lethal fighter jet in the world", every Israeli F-35 fighter jet is made in part in Britain. These jets are operating in Gaza, armed with 2,000lb bombs - explosives with a lethal radius up to 365m, an area the equivalent of 58 football pitches. A recent UN report identified these bombs as having been used in "emblematic" cases of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on Gaza that "led to high numbers of civilian fatalities and widespread destruction of civilian objects".
Earlier this month, an Israeli F-35 fighter jet was confirmed to have carried out an attack involving three 2,000lb bombs on Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza on 13 July, a so-called "safe zone" killing 90 people and injuring at least 300. Such attacks are almost certainly violations of international humanitarian law
The government has admitted it cannot licence the direct transfer of F-35 components to Israel because of the clear risk of serious international humanitarian law violations, but it has not suspended licences to export UK-made F-35 components to Israel as an end user via third-party countries, including the United States. There are serious questions that we demand answers to about the legality and practical necessity of such an exemption, especially given that any exemption is justified on the basis of a provision of the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (namely paragraph 8 of the preambular paragraph) that has never been formally relied on and when it is envisaged that Parliament will have a role in overseeing the use of this provision.
We do not regard the statements of the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on 2 September 2024 as providing sufficient clarity and detail about the use of this especially given the seriousness of the issue and the risk that the UK could continue to be complicit in the most serious violations and crimes.
With respect to the practical necessity of exemption, it is important to note that the government also has direction and autonomy to remove Israel from the list of approved recipients for the F-35 on the Open Licence Scheme and that the F-35s programme electronic stockpile management system allows for the tracking and monitoring of parts.
Setting aside the practicality, there appears to be no legal justification for the exemption given that the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria incorporates the UK's obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty and the UK continues to have international obligations to not be complicit in serious violations of international law, to prevent genocide and obligations under Common Article I of the Geneva Conventions. The government has provided no rationale as to how the exemption employed concerning F-35 parts that are re-exported to Israel is consistent with these aforementioned obligations.
We ask that you immediately provide a fuller and proper explanation to Parliament about how this exemption is practically necessary and most importantly - regardless of the practicalities - how it is consistent with the UK's international obligations.
Yours sincerely,
Zarah Sultana
Member of Parliament for Coventry South
Diane Abbott MP
Shockat Adam MP
Apsana Begum MP
Sian Berry MP
Kirsty Blackman MP
Richard Burgon MP
Ian Byrne MP
Ellie Chowns MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Ann Davies MP
Carla Denyer MP
Mary Kelly Foy MP
Claire Hanna MP
Adan Hussain MP
Imran Hussain MP
Kim Johnson MP
Avoub Khan MP
Ben Lake MP
Peter Lamb MP
Chris Law MP
lan Lavery MP
Graham Leadbitter MP
Clive Lewis MP
Seamus Logan MP
Llinos Medi MP
Andy McDonald MP
John McDonnell MP
Abtisam Mohamed MP
Iqbal Mohamed MP
Grahame Morris MP
Brendan O'Hara MP
Adrian Ramsay MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Liz Saville-Roberts MP
Nadia Whittome MP
Steve Witherden MP
https://twitter.com/zarahsultana/status/1834551674188263493
