Three former supreme court justices, including the court’s former president Lady Hale, are among more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges warning that the UK government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel.

The 17-page letter, which also amounts to a legal opinion, was sent on Wednesday evening and says: “While we welcome the increasingly robust calls by your government for a cessation of fighting and the unobstructed entry to Gaza of humanitarian assistance, simultaneously to continue (to take two striking examples) the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to Unwra falls significantly short of your government’s obligations under international law.”

The UK government has refused to publish its own legal advice on the matter but a leaked recording suggests its own lawyers have advised that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza.

  • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    What’s odd about that? The US and China are the two biggest arms dealers on the planet. Other historically militant countries aren’t that far behind either.

    • anlumo@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      The odd part is that it’s in reverse. They’re not getting money from both sides, they’re giving it to both.

      • caveman@lemmy.ml
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        7 months ago

        Think in a little more fine grained perspective: the arm lobby is managing to convince their politicians to get tax payer money and give it to the lobby.

        • anlumo@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Yes, but that only explains one side, since they’re delivering aid to the people in Gaza, not weapons. I don’t think that the food industry is strong enough for that.

          • XNX@slrpnk.net
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            7 months ago

            Who do you think delivers and prepares all the delivery? Some private companies make money from that too and considering its aid for people at war it’s probably defense contractors