Watch Jeremy Corbyn challenge David Lammy on arms sales to Israel in parliament

In parliament, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded foreign secretary David Lammy end arms sales to Israel.

Corbyn: Israel killing ‘the entire population of northern Gaza’

Corbyn, now elected as an independent MP, said:

Joyce Msuya, the humanitarian chief of the UN, who says and I quote ‘the entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying’, on top of the 1,000 who died last week, on top of all those living in the most desperate situation in southern Gaza, on top of the occupation of southern Lebanon, the bombing of southern Beirut and now the dangers of a hot war between Iran and Israel… isn’t it time… we suspend arms supplies in total to Israel in order to bring about a ceasefire and a cessation of this frankly murder of an innocent civilian population

But in response Lammy simply treated the situation in Palestine as some kind of natural disaster, rather than what the International Court of Justice called a ‘plausible genocide’. He even referred to the “Disasters Emergency Committee” in his answer:

Instead of expressing “concern” about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, isn’t it time we stopped supplying Israel with the weapons that have caused the catastrophe in the first place? pic.twitter.com/LdbOotBzoZ

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 28, 2024

Lammy also said “we have suspended arms that could be used in contravention of international humanitarian law”. But as Corbyn and the Independent Alliance of MPs have pointed out, through banning just 8.5% of export licenses to Israel the government has:

finally admitted there is a clear risk of weapons being used to commit violations of international law

They continued:

It is beyond shameful that it took the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinians for this admission to be made public

The Independent Alliance called for the limited arms suspension to be the:

first step in ending all arms sales to Israel. That includes parts for F-35 fighter jets, used by the Israeli military to commit genocide in Gaza.

Also in parliament, Labour MP Andy McDonald told Lammy:

The foreign secretary will no doubt agree with me that third states such as the UK are obliged not to assist Israel in its annihilation of the Gazan people. Israel continues to target cynically named ‘safe zones’, schools, hospitals in its war of extermination.

While the UK has suspended only 30… licenses for the export of arms to the Israeli military, our continued participation in the F-35 global supply chains means that devastating 2,000 pound bombs continue to destroy human beings

To stop the annihilation of the Gazan people, I said that in future people will ask why the international community did not use all levers available to them.

To ban arms sales and impose sanctions on Israel and to recognise the Palestinian state. pic.twitter.com/1SgKa5mwht

— Andy McDonald MP for Middlesbrough & Thornaby East (@AndyMcDonaldMP) October 28, 2024

As the Canary has reported, the Danish outlet Information and NGO Danwatch has documented the use of F-35 fighter jets in a specific Israeli bombing that killed around 90 Palestinians and injured over 300. 15% of F-35 fighter jets are produced in the UK. The bombardment was in an area – Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza – that Israel had previously designated as a ‘safe zone’.

UK exports

Campaign Against Arms Trade estimates that UK arms exports to Israel total at least £1bn since 2015 – double what the government says it is.

The estimate comes because the government uses open licenses to mask the figures. This is where companies can export unlimited amounts of specific military equipment under one license.

In June, the Department of Business and Trade revealed that Rishi Sunak’s government had approved 42 military export licenses to Israel from 7 October 2023 to 31 May 2024. Of these, five are open licenses.

The government’s continued approval of export licenses to Israel is very much out of step with the British public. Back in April, YouGov polling found that 56% of people believe the government should end arms and spare part sales to Israel, compared to 17% who don’t.

Featured image via Jeremy Corbyn – X