'Morally Unacceptable': Senior Tory Says UK Must Stop Arms Sales To Israel

Kevin Schofield
·2-min read
Palestinians gather around the burned and destroyed Al-Shifa Hospital after the Israeli attacks as Israeli forces withdrew from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on April 1, 2024. (Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Palestinians gather around the burned and destroyed Al-Shifa Hospital after the Israeli attacks as Israeli forces withdrew from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on April 1, 2024. (Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images) Anadolu via Getty Images

A senior Tory has joined the calls for the government to end arms sales to Israel over the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.

Sir Alan Duncan, who was a Foreign Office minister for three years, said it was “morally unacceptable” for the UK to continue selling weapons to the country.

His comments came after three British aid workers were among seven killed by Israeli air strikes.

Thousands of Palestinian civilians have died since Israel launched its offensive in the wake of Hamas’ attack on October 7.

Speaking on LBC this morning, Sir Alan said: “We should stop arms sales immediately. Anything in support of what is becoming a total catastrophe in Gaza is morally unacceptable.

“And what we have to accept is that it’s not just what they are doing now that is wrong, it’s what Israel has been doing for years that is wrong because the Israel Defence Force does not follow international law, it has been backing and supporting illegal settlers in the West Bank who steal Palestinian land.

“It is that land theft, that annexation of Palestine, that is the origin of the problem which has given rise to the Hamas atrocity and the battles we are seeing.

“The trouble is that there are people at the top of our own politics who refuse to condemn the settlements and therefore are not supporters of international law.”

Lord Ricketts, the former UK national security adviser, yesterday added his voice to calls for the government to stop selling arms to Israel.

More than 600 senior legal figures - including three former Supreme Court justices - have also signed a letter warning that the UK is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel.

But former home secretary Suella Braverman has mounted a strong defence of Israel.

Asked if the country was breaking international law, she told Radio 4′s Today programme: “Absolutely not. The suggestion itself is an insult to Israel, who has been going above and beyond the necessary requirements to ensure that civilian casualties are limited, to ensure that aid is received onto the Gaza Strip and distributed.”

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