UK NGOs demand government to halt all arms exports to Israeli regime
A coalition of UK non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has called on the government to suspend all arms exports to the Israeli regime, warning that UK-made weapons risk being used in genocide and further eroding international law.
In a joint statement released on Friday, five groups, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Global Justice Now, the Global Legal Action Network, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, and War on Want, said they were “appalled” by signs that the government may lift blocks on arms export licenses to the Israeli-occupied territories.
Their response followed comments by Business Secretary Peter Kyle, who said arms exports could resume if progress were made toward what he described as a “sustainable peace.”
The NGOs dismissed that position as “completely divorced from reality,” pointing to Israel’s ongoing violations of the October 10 ceasefire.
“The Government’s position was already untenable,” the statement said, highlighting that the UK has paused only around 30 of roughly 350 arms export licenses to Israel, just 8.6 percent of the total.
In September 2024, the government announced the limited suspension after a review identified a “clear risk” that UK-made weapons could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law. The NGOs stressed that conditions on the ground have only worsened since then.
They said Israel’s actions show “a total disregard for peace” and represent a continuation of the genocide of the Palestinian people, making any move to reopen arms exports morally indefensible.
Restarting sales, they warned, would shield Israel from accountability while laying bare the UK’s “weak commitment to upholding international law.”
“In this context,” the NGOs said, “the UK should not only refuse to ‘unpause’ the current suspension, but suspend all arms exports to Israel and freeze its existing free trade agreement.”
The appeal comes as Israel continues to violate the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025, between the occupying entity and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that at least 460 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 1,270 injured since the ceasefire began.
Since Israel launched its genocidal assault on Gaza on October 7, 2023, more than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 172,000 wounded, the majority of whom are women and children.
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