Large number of UK Labour MPs concerned over Israel’s actions in Gaza: Corbyn

London (Quds News Network)- Former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said a number of MPs from the party were feeling an “enormous” amount of pressure from their constituents amid the continuing Israeli war in Gaza.
“In many parts of the country, the Labour vote went down in the recent general election [in July], very significantly largely because of issues surrounding Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that public demonstrations against the war have only “increased in size, not decreased”.
“The popular support for the Palestinian people is bigger than I have ever known in my lifetime. We will be upping our game, our campaigning … making the case to end arms sales to Israel and save lives.”
On Monday, the British government announced it is suspending some arms export licenses to Israel because of a “clear risk” they may be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
The Foreign Office said a two-month internal review had raised concerns about the way Israel had conducted itself in the war in Gaza and that the decision specifically related to concerns around the treatment of Palestinian detainees and the supply of aid to Gaza.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it applied to 30 of the 350 existing arms licenses, but would almost entirely exclude all UK components for the F-35 fighter jet programme.
Corbyn said the partial suspension of weapons to Israel was a “political decision”.
“Lammy announced he was going to suspend 30 arms licences out of 350, but then went on to say that this wouldn’t damage Israel’s ability to defend itself,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The Defence Secretary John Healey has gone a bit further on Tuesday to essentially say it doesn’t make very much difference.”
Moreover, Corbyn said that the use of British weapons [in Israel] in light of the ICJ rulings earlier this year, as well as the applications filed by the ICC for Israeli leaders, leave the UK in a “very vulnerable position”.
“Parts of the F-35 jets are made in Britain. Britain still supplies a lot of other weapons to Israel, so I don’t think the legal case against Britain is actually finished,” he added.