Report: UK to delay decision on halting arms exports to Israel

The UK will delay a decision to cease exporting arms to Israel for several months, The Times reports.

Israeli officials had feared that the decision could come as soon as this week following other steps taken by the new Labour government to reverse the previous government’s policy on Israel amid the war with Hamas in Gaza.

The Times says the process will take longer because the UK is looking to only suspend export licenses for specific weapons systems that they can link to suspected war crimes and a study will take several weeks.

While still in the opposition, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy had said earlier this year that the government should suspend the sale of British arms if there was a clear risk they might be used in a serious breach of humanitarian law.

Now in government, he said last week that he had requested an assessment of the legal situation regarding weapons use in Gaza, and that he hoped to be able to communicate any decisions with “full accountability and transparency.”