England – A judge announced yesterday, Tuesday, that the British Supreme Court will consider next October a lawsuit filed by two human rights organizations demanding a halt to the supply of British weapons to Israel.
The Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq and the British-based Global Legal Action Network filed an appeal last December, demanding that Britain stop granting licenses to export weapons to Israel.
The two organizations pointed out that they acted following the British government ignored their written requests to suspend arms sales to Israel in the wake of the October 7 attack, which led to the war between Israel and the faction movement.
The case was dismissed in February, but a High Court judge on Tuesday agreed to a judicial review hearing for it in October.
Lawyers for the two human rights organizations said there was a clear risk that British weapons might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
But solicitor James Eadie, representing the UK Department for Business and Trade, said the case was being considered “with apparent care and rigor”.
“The Secretary of State’s position is that those decisions were lawful at all times, and rational in particular,” he said in a written note.
Human rights groups have long opposed British arms exports to Israel, but such calls have gained popularity since an Israeli air strike killed seven aid workers from the charity World Central Kitchen on April 1. Three of the aid workers were British.
Source: A B
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2024-04-24 06:25:34
