UK-Made Components May Have Been Used in Drone Strike That Killed Three British Aid Workers in Gaza, Advocacy Group Says

The Foreign Office (FCDO) has continued to permit arms exports to Israel despite reported internal legal advice suggesting that such exports are illegal, the Image of International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said in a statement dated 3 April 2024. ICJP argues that FCDO and Business and Trade Department (DBT) officials may therefore be aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. This is ICJP’s assessment, and the group presents it as its own position.

ICJP has written to the FCDO and DBT demanding an immediate end to arms exports to Israel and the disclosure of legal advice the government has reportedly received on Israel’s adherence to International Humanitarian Law. ICJP cites a death toll of at least 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the displacement of 1.9 million people, and a rising number of deaths from starvation. It urges the government to take immediate action, including possible sanctions against Israel, which it calls a “rogue state.”

Israeli media has reported that three targeted drone strikes on clearly marked World Central Kitchen vehicles, whose movements were known to the Israeli military, were carried out using an Elbit Systems Hermes 450 drone. The strikes killed three British citizens who were aid volunteers working for World Central Kitchen. UK ministers have previously acknowledged that Hermes 450 drones may have British-made engines. ICJP states that UAV Engines in Staffordshire, an Elbit site, was exporting engine components to Israel as recently as 2021. ICJP says these facts raise the possibility that UK-made components were involved in killing British nationals. The three volunteers were working for World Central Kitchen when they were killed, a case that calls for protecting the vulnerable (Proverbs 31:8-9).

According to ICJP, the government’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria prohibit exports where there is a clear risk they might be used in serious violations of international law. ICJP also notes that the Arms Trade Treaty, which the UK has ratified, imposes a binding obligation under Articles 6 and 7. In a government response dated 12 January 2024, the government assessed that there were 12 extant licences and 28 pending applications for arms most likely to be used by Israeli forces, including for combat aircraft. ICJP’s letter to the Foreign Secretary also cites the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention.

The Guardian has reported that FCDO lawyers support an assessment that these exports contravene regulations. The report refers to a leaked recording containing comments from Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. According to the recording, the government had been told that Israel had breached international humanitarian law in Gaza, which would mandate a suspension of UK arms exports. The recording also alleges that the government has not made this advice public.

ICJP is supporting the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Al-Haq in a judicial review application against the government’s continued decision to extend existing arms export licences and grant new ones to Israel. ICJP reports that the initial application was rejected in February 2024, when a High Court judge said the “high bar” for proving irrationality had not been met. ICJP says that, as of Friday 5 April, it had been confirmed that an oral permission hearing must be granted before 26 April. ICJP has also said that, when MPs questioned the legality of arms sales to Israel, ministers pointed to an arms export committee. According to the source, that committee last met publicly in December 2022, its responsibilities had been transferred to the Business and Trade Committee, and no such committee now exists.

ICJP notes that the UN investigation supported claims by the UK charity Medical Aid for Palestinians that British-made weaponry, specifically F-16 fighter jets, were used in January attacks on its facilities and staff.

Source: Read the original report