Watch: UK arms exports change would make Hamas stronger, says Cameron
By Sam Francis
Political reporter, BBC News
A UK ban on selling arms to Israel would only strengthen Hamas, the foreign secretary has told the BBC.
Lord Cameron said while he would not support a major ground offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah, the UK would not copy US plans to stop some arms sales.
He said the UK supplies just 1% of Israel’s weapons and warned Israel must do more to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid through.
Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said he not want British-made arms used in Rafah.
This week US President Joe Biden upended part of one of the world’s most significant strategic relationships by saying the US are “not supplying the weapons ” if Israel went ahead with a planned invasion of Rafah – the southern Gazan city where about 1.4 million people have been sheltering.
The UN says more than 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, with Israeli tanks reportedly massed close to built-up areas.
Israel has said it will proceed with planned operations in Rafah despite the US and other allies warning that a ground offensive could lead to mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis.
Its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pledged to eliminate Hamas battalions he claims are based in Rafah.
Image source, EPA
Israeli tanks and other armoured vehicles gathered near the Gaza border fence on Thursday
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Lord Cameron said he would not support a full-scale offensive on Rafah until he saw Israel’s “plan to protect people”.
But he argued the US “is in a totally different position” to the UK, because it is “a massive state supplier of weaponry”.
Lord Cameron said
