London, July 13: Downing Street orders minimum sanctions against Israel in response to demands for a wholesale embargo in protest at the Zionist regime’s massacres of Palestinians.
On Monday, Israeli daily Haaretz said the British authorities had wavered only five of 182 warrants for supplying the Israeli military with equipment.
The move came after UK lawmakers, rights groups and damning reports by the Amnesty International targeted London’s arms sales to Tel Aviv that had maximized its armed campaign against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
It is not clear if the licenses reviewed as a result included those urged by the Amnesty International that permit the provision of engines for Hermes 450 drones. The aircraft is reportedly used for targeted killings inside the coastal sliver.
The sanctions only affect the small armada of Sa’ar 4.5 missile boats which depend on British supplies.
The vessels were deployed during the 22-day Israeli raids on the strip which claimed more than 1,400 Palestinians injuring thousands others.
The parliamentarians and rights movements have also established contacts with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
The British government accuses Hamas of violence and has placed a boycott over the group. “Israel has the right to defend itself and faces real security threats,” added the Monday statement in a thinly-veiled reference to Hamas.
The Israeli military continue to be generously supported by the US – its biggest arms supplier which injects USD 2 billion worth of armaments into the defense industry per year.
——Agencies