I have joined over 70 MPs from across parties to call on the Government to immediately halt all transfers of military equipment and technology, including components, to Israel, and to suspend the issuing of new licenses.

The reasons outlined in the Early Day Motion reflect my position. This includes “deep concern that UK-made military equipment and technology is being used by Israel, including in its most recent bombardment of the occupied Gaza Strip which has resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries”.

This is also on the basis of alarming reports by the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others, referenced in the Early Day Motion, about “violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law by Israel, including apparently unlawful attacks that may amount to war crimes.”

Under both international and domestic law, the UK “is required to prevent the transfer of military equipment where there is a clear or overriding risk that such exports might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law”. This is set out in Articles 6 and 7 of the Arms Trade Treaty. It is also a criterion of the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.

Read the full text here.