Lawmakers from 12 countries pledge to push their governments to impose Israel arms embargo

Over 200 far-left lawmakers from 12 countries have signed onto a letter committing to trying to persuade their governments to impose an arms embargo on Israel over the latter’s “grave violation of international law” in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

According to the Guardian’s report on the letter, signatories include former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn; the leader of the Green party in the Australian senate, Larissa Waters; the coordinator of France Unbowed, Manuel Bompard; the national secretary of the Workers’ party of Belgium, Peter Mertens; the Canadian MP and member of the Progressive International council, Niki Ashton; the Brazilian federal deputy Nilto Tatto; the former leader of Die Linke, Bernd Riexinger; the leader of the Spanish party Podemos, Ione Belarra; the leader of the Dutch Socialist party, Jimmy Dijk; Irish MP Thomas Pringle; and the former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic party in Turkey, Sezai Temelli.

The lone American signatory is Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

“We know that lethal weapons and their parts, made or shipped through our countries, currently aid the Israeli assault on Palestine that has claimed over 30,000 lives across Gaza and the West Bank,” the letter states, relying on Hamas’s death count from the war.

“We cannot wait. Following the interim ruling by the International Court of Justice on the genocide convention case against the state of Israel, an arms embargo has moved beyond a moral necessity to become a legal requirement.”