The UK government, led by Sir Kier Starmer, has decided to halt 30 of the countries 350 arms export licenses to Israel. The given reason is that there is legitimate concerns that these arms are used to commit war crimes and break humanitarian law in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.

The arms include important components which go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as items which facilitate ground targeting. However, they notably do not include F-35 parts, due to the suspension of these parts potentially undermining the global F-35 supply chain which would endanger the security of NATO and its allies.

The government reiterates that it supports Israel’s right to self-defence, with the foreign secretary David Lammy proclaiming himself a liberal and progressive Zionist and that peace cannot be achieved in the Middle East without the security of the states of Israel AND Palestine and a ceasefire.

This is an important step towards holding Israel to account for its crimes in Gaza though some critics may suggest it does not go far enough in disabling Israel from committing such crimes and others may say that it only helps the Hamas organisation and hinders Israel’s ability to irradicate them.