Topline:
Israel is braced for the UK to suspend arms sales in the coming days
What do we know?
- It is being reported that UK arms sales to Israel may be suspended within days
- Officials in Jerusalem are bracing for an announcement from the Labour government
- Any such move would mark a significant turn in UK-Israel relations
Britain is expected to suspend some arms exports to Israel as early as Tuesday, it has been reported, as conflict in the region continues to wage on.
On Friday, Labour dropped the previous Tory government’s plan to challenge the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) application for an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu.
A No 10 spokeswoman confirmed that the Government will not submit an objection in what marked a significant shift in UK-Israel relations.
It is now believed a suspension of some UK arms sales to Israel could be in the offing, with The Telegraph reporting there could be developments as early as Tuesday.
Two Israeli sources said that Israel is braced for the announcement of a suspension in the coming days, but that the two allies were currently engaged in intense talks.
The scope of the arms restrictions remains unclear but the change in policy would mark a significant breach of UK-Israel relations.
That said, Sir Keir Starmer’s Government may yet change course with tensions in the region running high following the death of 12 Israeli children in a Hezbollah strike on Saturday.
Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the attack, which has raised fears of a potential escalation of fighting in the Middle East.
Asked about the possibility for escalation in the conflict, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told Sky News: “I think this is very serious. Since October 7 last year, we have all been focused on the situation in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
“We have known that there is this other situation in northern Israel between Hezbollah and Israel, and that has the potential to be a much more serious situation than even the one that we have been watching unfold in Gaza over the last 10 months.”