Four former senior UK military commanders demand Israel arms ban

Four former senior army officers have written to Keir Starmer demanding a full ban on the supply of weapons and arms components to Israel and on all dealings with Israeli-owned arms firms.

Pressure on Starmer over Israel grows

Three further top soldiers have joined Major General Charlie Herbert, who came out earlier this week to publicly support a full military embargo.

The other three veteran officers, all of general ranks, are Brigadier John Deverell, former UK Defence Academy director-general Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Graham, and retired Major General Peter Currie. In their letter, they tell Starmer that sanctions are needed and that:

now is not the time to return to business as usual with the Israeli government.

The signatories also deride UK government claims that the Israeli military has “thorough and rigorous processes for the conduct of hostilities and targeting”. Instead, they point out that well over 100 humanitarian agencies have condemned Israel’s slaughter in Gaza and its routine targeting of civilians and infrastructure. While shying away from the word “genocide”, they describe the carnage as:

exceptionally disproportionate and avoidable civilian fatalities and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.

The Starmer regime has continued to provide arms, components and military assistance to the genocidal occupation. This assistance has included near-daily spy-flights over Gaza, including during the murder of British citizens delivering aid in Gaza.