{"id":7385,"date":"2025-05-27T19:08:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T17:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/?p=7385"},"modified":"2025-07-17T12:37:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:37:48","slug":"govt-must-answer-israel-arms-export-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/govt-must-answer-israel-arms-export-data\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Government must answer for new data on Israel arms exports, say seven civil society organisations"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8\"]{font-size:var(--global-kb-font-size-sm, 0.9rem);font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h5 class=\"kt-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7385_52fefc-d8\"><em>A full copy of the letter is available at the end of this webpage<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u201ccarve-out\u201d indirect F-35 exports to Israel, despite acknowledging the clear risk that they may be used to violate international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has--font-size\">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,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/664aed65d320123f2b3ab647\/t\/681b13a2197d634a11d746c0\/1746604963269\/REPORT-ExposingUKArmsExportsToIsrael-05072025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed in a report<\/a>\u00a0last week, as serving to \u201c<em>undermine trust in the transparency and stringency behind your government\u2019s announcement that it has suspended all arms export licenses which have the potential to be used by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has--font-size\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has--font-size\">Yesterday, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/news\/new-figures-reveal-massive-increase-in-uk-arms-exports-to-israel-as-government-defends-f-35-exemption-in-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">government\u2019s quarterly data<\/a>\u00a0publication showed that in October-December of 2024, they licensed \u00a3127.6m worth of military equipment in single issue licenses for Israel. This represents a massive increase \u2013 totalling more than 2020-2023\u2019s licenses combined \u2013 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\u2019s newest data does not account for the discrepancies described above.<br>The coalition notes that the government\u2019s slim response to this report, and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/committees.parliament.uk\/publications\/47645\/documents\/248952\/default\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refusal to answer<\/a>\u00a0questions on the matter of arms sales, are serious threats to public trust in the government\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has--font-size\">\n<li>How and why these discrepancies have arisen is a matter for the government to answer:&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How tightly monitored are the end-use restrictions on arms sold for \u201ccivilian\u201d, \u201cre-export\u201d, or \u201ctraining\u201d purposes, how widespread are export license exemptions, and has the government resumed direct exports of F-35 components since September?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How does this all square with the government\u2019s obligations to prevent genocide and not to assist in the maintenance of illegal occupation?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<br>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/elsc.support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Arms_Trade_Open_Letter_160525_JR_GD.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed Arms_Trade_Open_Letter_160525_JR_GD.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-c7b6dda5-7439-4bcd-ab79-a19cfe294d59\" href=\"https:\/\/elsc.support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Arms_Trade_Open_Letter_160525_JR_GD.pdf\">Arms_Trade_Open_Letter_160525_JR_GD<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/elsc.support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Arms_Trade_Open_Letter_160525_JR_GD.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-c7b6dda5-7439-4bcd-ab79-a19cfe294d59\" download>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:205px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seven civil society organisations are demanding answers from the UK government after new data reveals major discrepancies in arms exports to Israel. Despite announcing a suspension in September 2024, the data shows a sharp rise in military shipments\u2014raising urgent questions about transparency, accountability, and compliance with international law.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":7386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[140],"test-2":[],"country":[152],"blog_categories":[],"class_list":["post-7385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-accountability","country-gb"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":55,"label":"Press Release"}],"post_tag":[{"value":140,"label":"Accountability"}],"country":[{"value":152,"label":"Britain"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/elsc.support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Government-must-answer-for-new-data-on-Israel-arms-exports-say-seven-civil-society-organisations-1024x538.png",1024,538,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Bashar","author_link":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/author\/bashar\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":55,"name":"Press Release","slug":"press-release","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":55,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Official updates shared with media or public.","parent":0,"count":76,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":55,"category_count":76,"category_description":"Official updates shared with media or public.","cat_name":"Press Release","category_nicename":"press-release","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":140,"name":"Accountability","slug":"accountability","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":140,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"Legal and institutional accountability","parent":0,"count":25,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7385"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7512,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385\/revisions\/7512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7385"},{"taxonomy":"test-2","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/test-2?post=7385"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=7385"},{"taxonomy":"blog_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_categories?post=7385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}