London, June 13 (RHC)-- Oxfam says Britain is helping fuel Israel’s dreadful massacre of Palestinians by refusing to suspend arms sales to Tel Aviv. The UK-based organization criticized the UK government for having granted more than 100 arms export licenses to Israel since the regime launched its savage military offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip in October.
“This has occurred in the unequivocal knowledge that tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian children and their parents are being killed by Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza,” said Oxfam Chief Executive Halima Begum on Wednesday. "It is a comprehensive failure in the UK's moral leadership and the values of humanity” for the United Kingdom, she said.
Begum also criticized the British government for facilitating the supply of even greater flows of weapons to Israel while talking about peace in Gaza. She said that immediately suspending all licenses for sales of arms and military equipment would send a "powerful message" that the United Kingdom is serious about pushing for the lasting cease-fire.
The value of UK approved arms exports licenses to Israel was £42 million in 2022 and the publication of the figure for the whole of 2023 is due later this week.
Oxfam has previously warned the UK government that refusal to suspend arms sales to Israel could leave it open to complicity in Israel’s war crimes.
Earlier this year, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch provided evidence of Israel's violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
