Report: British Arms Exports to Israel Reach Record Level

A new report revealed that British military contractors are selling record amounts of weapons and ammunition to the Israeli regime, in the wake of an announcement by the Kensington Palace that Prince William would represent the UK government on a visit to the occupied territories next month.

News ID: 70406

Date: 28 May 2018 - 14:45

TEHRAN (Defapress)- The British daily newspaper, The Guardian, citing figures from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), a UK-based NGO, said in a report on Sunday that the UK issued £221 million worth of arms license to military companies exporting to the Israeli regime last year.

It added that such an export of different kinds of weapons and ammunition to Israel made it the UK’s eighth largest market for British arms companies.

The report further noted that the huge figure was also a skyrocketing increase compared with the previous year’s figure of £86 million, which in turn had been a dramatic rise on the £20 million worth of arms licensed in 2015, stating that in total, over the past five years, the occupying regime had purchased more than £350 million worth of UK military hardware.

Last year, the UK military contractors’ arms exports to Israel included those for targeting equipment, small arms ammunition, missiles, weapon sights and sniper rifles, the report went on to say, adding that in 2016, London also issued licenses for anti-armor ammunition, gun mountings, components for air-to-air missiles, targeting equipment, components for assault rifles, components for grenade-launchers and anti-riot shields.

The UK government’s green light to exporting arms to Israel has in the past years drawn condemnations from rights groups.

The occupied territories have been the scene of new tensions ever since US President Donald Trump in December 2017, declared Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” and promised that the United States would move its diplomatic mission to the city.

In the hours leading up to the inauguration of the embassy in al-Quds in mid-May, Israeli troops engaged in clashes with Palestinian protesters, killing some 70 unarmed demonstrators and wounding more than 3,000 others.

Since the start of the rallies in late March, some 120 Palestinians have been killed and at least 13,000 injured along the fence in Gaza, with no reports of Israeli casualties, according to reports.

On Thursday, the Kensington Palace announced that 35-year-old Prince William would commence his Middle East trip on June 24 in Amman, the capital of Jordan, and then he would have stops in Tel Aviv and Ramallah before concluding in Jerusalem al-Quds on June 28. His trip to the occupied territories, which will be made against the backdrop of a massacre, marks the first time a member of the British royal family has traveled to Israel on official business.

“After the appallingly excessive response of the Israeli security forces at the Gaza border, tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories are likely to be close to boiling point when Prince William makes this historic visit,” Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s campaigns director, said.

Andrew Smith of CAAT also stated that “the shootings we have seen over recent weeks have been an awful reminder of the appalling collective punishment and oppression that has been inflicted on the people of Gaza. By the government’s own admission, UK arms have been used time and again against Palestinians. Yet the arms sales have continued unabated.”

Back in March, another report revealed that the United Kingdom is using secretive licenses to hide the scale of its arms exports to countries with dire human rights records in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is by far the largest buyer of UK arms under the opaque open licensing system.

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