UN experts call for arms embargo on Israel: ‘International law does not enforce itself’

A group of United Nations experts has called for an arms embargo on Israel, arguing that any transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel that would be used in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip “is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.”

In a statement released yesterday, the UN experts say that all countries have a responsibility not to sell weapons “if it is expected, given the facts or past patterns of behavior, that they would be used to violate international law.”

Arms exports to #Israel that would be used in #Gaza likely to violate international humanitarian law and must stop immediately, UN experts warn: "All States must do their part to urgently end the unrelenting humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza":https://t.co/zzIvaKy74b pic.twitter.com/Vej6xNajnm

— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) February 23, 2024

The statement also celebrates a February 12 ruling handed down by a Dutch court ordering The Netherlands to stop delivering parts for F-35 fighter jets used by Israel in Gaza.

The team of dozens of independent experts who backed the statement includes Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, who was officially banned from Israel earlier in the month over her apparent justification of Hamas’s brutal October 7 massacres.