Halting arms exports to Israel is 害羞草研究所渘ot a wise path害羞草研究所 and would only strengthen Hamas, Britain害羞草研究所檚 foreign secretary said Sunday.
Asked whether the U.K. would follow the U.S. in threatening to cut the supply of offensive weapons to Israel if it carried out an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the two countries cannot be compared because unlike the U.S., Britain supplies a very small amount of Israel害羞草研究所檚 weapons.
害羞草研究所淭he U.K. provides less than 1% of Israel害羞草研究所檚 weapons and it害羞草研究所檚 not a state supplier,害羞草研究所 Cameron told the BBC on Sunday. 害羞草研究所淲e have a licensing system and those licences can be closed if it害羞草研究所檚 judged there害羞草研究所檚 a serious risk of a serious international human rights violation.害羞草研究所
U.S. President Joe Biden has said that his government will stop supplying weapons and artillery to Israel if its forces launch an all-out assault on Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza.
Britain害羞草研究所檚 opposition Labour Party and human rights groups argue that the U.K. should follow a similar position and stop the sale of British-made weapons or components in a Rafah offensive.
The U.S. government said Friday that Israel害羞草研究所檚 use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law. But it added that wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Cameron also said that putting British boots on the ground in Gaza as part of international efforts to deliver aid would be 害羞草研究所渁 risk that we shouldn害羞草研究所檛 take.害羞草研究所
His comments came after reports that U.K. authorities were considering deploying troops to land humanitarian supplies from a temporary pier being built by the U.S. military.
Cameron said that his government害羞草研究所檚 view was that 害羞草研究所渁ctually putting British boots on to the beach was not a good move.害羞草研究所 He said that instead, the aid delivery will likely be carried out by a contractor.
READ ALSO:
___
The Associated Press