Government must answer for new data on Israel arms exports, say seven civil society organisations

A full copy of the letter is available at the end of this webpage

In September 2024, the government announced that it would suspend all arms export licenses which have the potential to be used by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza. The current court case hinges on the legality of the decision to “carve-out” indirect F-35 exports to Israel, despite acknowledging the clear risk that they may be used to violate international humanitarian law.

New data, however, throws into question even the partial suspension. In a letter to Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, the group cites discrepancies between UK and Israeli arms export/import data, revealed in a report last week, as serving to “undermine trust in the transparency and stringency behind your government’s announcement that it has suspended all arms export licenses which have the potential to be used by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza.”

The Israel Tax Authority data, first published by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Workers for a Free Palestine and Progressive International shows that since September there has been no reported change in the rate of courier-delivered aircraft components directly exported to Israel, and that the majority of UK shipments of military items have been made after the 2nd September. This includes 8 shipments of at least 8,630 separate munitions.

Yesterday, the government’s quarterly data publication showed that in October-December of 2024, they licensed £127.6m worth of military equipment in single issue licenses for Israel. This represents a massive increase – totalling more than 2020-2023’s licenses combined – and all falling after the 2nd September decision. While demonstrating a massive uptick in the number and value of arms licenses authorised after 2nd September, the government’s newest data does not account for the discrepancies described above.
The coalition notes that the government’s slim response to this report, and the refusal to answer questions on the matter of arms sales, are serious threats to public trust in the government’s policies. 

• How and why these discrepancies have arisen is a matter for the government to answer: 
• How tightly monitored are the end-use restrictions on arms sold for “civilian”, “re-export”, or “training” purposes, how widespread are export license exemptions, and has the government resumed direct exports of F-35 components since September? 
• How does this all square with the government’s obligations to prevent genocide and not to assist in the maintenance of illegal occupation?

The NGO coalition comprises Campaign Against Arms Trade, European Legal Support Centre, Global Justice Now, International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, Public Interest Law Centre, Shadow World Investigations and War on Want.
They have called for a full disclosure of all arms exports made to Israel since October 2023 and September 2024, including those not formally disclosed under the license regime, and a full Departmental response to the reported data.