{"id":543,"date":"2026-01-14T03:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T03:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/?p=543"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:51:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:51:57","slug":"amnesty-international-appeals-to-uk-not-to-unblock-arms-export-licenses-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/amnesty-international-appeals-to-uk-not-to-unblock-arms-export-licenses-to-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty International appeals to UK not to unblock arms export licenses to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Let\u2019s not be fooled by talk of ‘ceasefires’ or ‘peace. Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza has not stopped. Killings have continued,’ says human rights group <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n

By Burak Bir<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LONDON (AA) – Amnesty International UK urged the British government on Tuesday not to “reward” Israel by unblocking arms export licenses amid Israel\u2019s genocide in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rights group said the UK government signaling it may unblock arms sales to Israel is “deeply troubling.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Let\u2019s not be fooled by talk of \u2018ceasefires\u2019 or \u2018peace’. Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza has not stopped. Killings have continued,” it said in a statement, adding that the illegal blockade remains, as does the system of apartheid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, despite a ceasefire that began October 10, Israel has continued its attacks, killing 447 Palestinians and wounding 1 246.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International’s remarks came following Business Secretary Peter Kyle’s remarks during an interview with The Jewish Chronicle newspaper that was published on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the interview which took place at Sunday’s Jewish Labour Movement annual conference in London, Kyle said that paused UK arms export licenses to Israel could be “unblocked” after Phase Two of the ceasefire deal is concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He committed to revisiting UK-Israel trade conversations and paused arms export licenses after he sees “progress with peace.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2024, the British government announced it was suspending 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel following a review that found a “clear risk” that some exports could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last May, then-British Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended negotiations with Israel on a new free trade deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty UK recalled that the UK never fully banned arms sales in the first place and said reports of parts for F-35 fighter jets continued, which were blamed for being used in Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide against Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying that to attribute the lifting of the suspension to trade deals rather than to our obligations under international law and International Court of Justice rulings, is “highly problematic yet painfully telling about this Government\u2019s real priorities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These decisions should be grounded in human rights and legal responsibilities, not political manoeuvring. The UK must not reward Israel as it is deepening its illegal occupation and apartheid policies,” said Amnesty International UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli army has killed more than 71,000 victims, most of them women and children, and injured over 171,000 in a brutal offensive since October 2023 that left Gaza in ruins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Let\u2019s not be fooled by talk of ‘ceasefires’ or ‘peace. Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza has not stopped. Killings have continued,’ says human rights group<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[14,76,15,16,56,57,19,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conflict-zones","8":"tag-gaza","9":"tag-guns","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-palestine","12":"tag-starmer","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-war-crimes","15":"tag-zionist"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":546,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions\/546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}