UK judges, intelligence experts call for a suspension of Israeli arms sales

Three former Supreme Court justices have joined more than 600 members of the British legal profession in calling for the government to halt arms sales to Israel, saying it could make Britain complicit in genocide in Gaza.

Their call was also backed by two of the country's leading intelligence experts, who argued that Britain needed to use any leverage it could to persuade Israel and its biggest backer, the United States, to change course in the conflict.

The Foreign Office said on Thursday it was reviewing government advice on Israel's adherence to the law but that the content of the advice was confidential.

Senior members of Britain's legal profession said the government needed to halt sales to avoid "aiding and assisting an internationally wrongful act."

"The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of International Humanitarian Law," the judges, barristers, and legal academics said in a 17-page letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

One of the former justices, Jonathan Sumption, told BBC Radio that the British government had lost sight of its obligations under international law.

Reuters