UK sells weapons to Israel?

British Foreign Minister David Lami condemned Israel’s behavior and said Britain could “make more weeks” if the Israeli government does not change the war in the strip.

He expressed anger that “the international community was unable to bring this war to the end” and stated that it was “sick” in recent days.

Since Israel has started its military campaign in Gaza after the October 7 attacks, the public was focused on the UK’s assistance issues. Most of the weapons used by Israel (IDF) were built on a strip, built or sold by Western countries.

But information about the degree of military support of the UK Israel is often unclear or classified, and some deputies called for an investigation into a public investigation.

The UK is not one of the main vendors of Israel weapons. The US is definitely the largest seller – helping Israel to develop one of the most advanced militants in the world – behind them Germany and Italy.

Since 2015, the UK has approved an export license to Israel worth more than £ 500 million ($ 676.4 million) – maximum in 2018, reports, reports Company Against A Board Group (CAAT).

However, great attention in support of the UK for Israel focused on the details made in Britain for the f-35 jet. Israel is widely used by a modern fighter with several roles, it was widely used by Israel to strike gas.

The UK supplies from 13-15% of the components used in the jet, including the driver’s seat, the posterior fuselage, the active interceptor systems, focused on the laser and the weapon emissions. However, some parts are not included in the Israeli version of the jet.

After the Labor Party came to power last year, it suspended 30 of 350 arms export licenses, affecting the equipment such as details for fighters, helicopters and drones.

Any British company that wants to sell weapons abroad must apply for a license, and at the time the government said there was a “obvious risk”. The equipment can be used to commit serious violations of international law.

But the main thing is that the spare parts for the F-35 were not included in the ban on export. The government said it could not prevent Israel get these components as they are sent to production centers abroad within the global program – not directly to Israel.

Professor Anna St. Storianakis, an expert on the export of UK weapons, described the government’s decision to allow this release as a “huge crevice”.

“The UK, made by the F-35 parts, are mostly going to the US, where they are included in Jets, which are sent to Israel,” she said the BBC, which notes that since the White House “does not want to stop supporting Israel,” the UK’s export prohibitions were quite limited.

The UK also jointly developed Drone Hermes, which is widely used in gas. While the UK aircraft, called Watcheper 450, an unarmed, Israeli Hermes drone can be armed with a spike missile and was reportedly used as a result of an attack that killed seven world -wide kitchen workers last year.

It is difficult to say that the UK still exports to Israel under active licenses. Foreign Minister David Lami said last year that the ban was not “a ban on blankets or arms embargoes,” and stated that Israel could be protected from the attack.

According to the Department of Business and Trade, 161 of existing licenses concerning military products.

The UK Parliament Report states that the rest of the licenses may include “subjects such as coaching and naval equipment, as well as double use items for civil use and data equipment.”

The degree to which the UK has shared intelligence with Israel since October 7 is unclear. The government has a long -standing “defense partnership with Israel”, which, according to defense officials, includes “education, joint training and development of opportunities”.

Royal Air Force (RAF) flew hundreds of observation flights over Gaza since December 2023, Reported by using spy planes R1 Based on the RAF base in Acrootra in a nearby Cyprus.

In an interview on Monday, Lami insisted that RAF flights over the gas did not exchange any military exploration with IDF.

“The British government would be completely wrong to assist in pursuing this war,” the Foreign Minister said. “We don’t do it.”

In 2023, the UK acknowledged that some of its “unarmed” drones, which circled over the lane, helped in search of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attacks. Hamas still holds 50 people, and 20 were considered alive.

The Armed Forces Minister Luke Palord confirmed this position in April 2025, informing the deputies that the flights to the UK are carried out on the “sole purpose of posting hostages”.

The Ministry of Defense (MOD) refused to comment whether there was an Israeli plane to access the RAF base in Cyprus. But the BBC Verify also identified the Israeli Air Force in the UK airspace over the past year after reports in an independent drop. Several aircraft Amendments Re’Em appeared on specialized flight tracking sites over RAF bases in Brize Norton and Fairford.

The MOD press secretary said the BBC Verify: “Standard practice regularly will allow requests for a limited number of allies and partners to access UK air bases.”

“We cannot comment or provide information related to the movements and operations of foreign countries,” the press secretary added.

The UK often conducts training courses for union militants, many of which focus on leadership, logistics and cyber operations. For example, thousands of Ukrainian troops have come to Britain since Russia launched its full -scale invasion of 2022 for basic training.

Lord Cocker, the UK, said in April that “less than 10” IDF staff was trained in military courses that do not work in the UK every year since 2020.

He refused to say exactly how many IDF troops took part in the courses during this time, or what classes they conducted “to protect personal information.” But ministers insist that the courses emphasize the importance of implementing international humanitarian legislation.

In June, the Armed Forces Minister Luke Palord confirmed that “a limited number of Israeli forces” took part in the UK training courses but refused to offer additional details.

The UK’s approach to holding Israel’s liable for its gas campaign has changed after the 2024 universal elections. The new government of the Labor government has abandoned the government’s confrontation on the arrest of the warrants issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Joawa Galanta International Criminal Court (ICC).

Since then, he has become more voice in criticism of Israeli leaders and this week joined the 27 other countries, condemning the “inhuman murder of civilians” seeking food and water.

And the Labor Government rejected negotiations to increase the free trade agreement with Israel in May, and Lami called the Palestinians Israeli “cause the values of the British people.”

But while the government authorized two right -wing Israeli ministers for “inciting violence” on the occupied Western Bank, it should still impose any sanctions on Israel directly for their actions in the gas, which killed at least 59,029 according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.