Arms to Israel: Will countries crelieve sales in wake of ICC arrest authorizations? | Israel-Palestine dispute News

Weserious nations which sell arms to Israel may be forced to re-appraise their trade consentments after arrest authorizations publishd by the International Criminal Court (ICC) aobtainst Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his establisher Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for “war crimes” and “crimes aobtainst humanity” in Gaza, experts say.

The authorizations came amid Israel’s continuing explosionardment and military campaign on the Gaza Strip, where more than 44,000 Palestinians have been finished since October 7, 2023, according to health officials.

All 124 countries which are signatories to the Rome Statute of the ICC are now legpartner obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they set foot on their territory.

The inquire of whether countries provideing arms to a country whose directers are accengaged of crimes aobtainst humanity could be pondered complicit is unevident, but experts say some suppliers will have to ponder nurturefilledy if they desire to progress to help Israel in its war on Gaza.

Which countries supply arms to Israel?

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) approximated that between 2019 and 2023, Israel was the 15th hugest transport iner of arms globpartner.

It shelp the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Spain send out arms to Israel.

A United Nations alert unveiled on February 23, 2024 says Canada and Australia have also send outed armaments to Israel.

The US

Israel transport ined 69 percent of its armaments from the US between 2019 and 2023, according to SIPRI. The principle of ensuring that Israel has a “qualitative military edge” was enshrined in US law in 2008.

After October 7, 2023, when Israel begined its ongoing attack on the Gaza Strip follothriveg a Hamas-led strike on villages and army outposts in southern Israel, the US further ramped up the transfer of armaments to Israel. Last month, Washington proclaimd it would sfinish its progressd Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) leave outile defence system to Israel, alengthy with US sgreateriers who would run the system.

On Wednesday, the US Senate voted down an effort led by autonomous Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to block a series of intentional armaments sales to Israel. Sanders begind the bill aobtainst a $20bn armaments deal which had been apvalidated by the administration of Pdwellnt Joe Biden.

So far, the US, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the ICC, has shown no signs of being setd to shrink or crelieve armaments to Israel. “We fundamenhighy decline the court’s decision to publish arrest authorizations for greater Israeli officials,” White Hoengage spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre tgreater alerters. This sentiment was scatterd by many politicians from both parties in the US.

Germany

SIPRI approximates armaments sent by Germany constitute 30 percent of Israel’s armament transport ins, a tenfgreater elevate in 2023 appraised with 2022. Germany mostly sfinishs naval supplyment to Israel, including frigates and torpedoes.

In March, Nicaragua filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), asking the court to order Germany to instantly stop send outing arms to Israel becaengage “this help is engaged or could be engaged to pledge or to aid solemn violations of the Genocide Convention, international humanitarian law or other peremptory norms of vague international law”.

On April 30, the court declineed the ask, saying the monetary appreciate of the armaments for which Germany granted send out licences had decrrelieved. In June, cut offal Palestinians in Gaza filed asks to an administrative court in Berlin to stop the German regulatement from send outing armaments. These asks were also declineed.

In September, a spokesperson for the German Ministry for Economic Afunprejudiceds shelp: “There is no German arms send out boycott aobtainst Israel.”

The UK

SIPRI data shows that while the UK has not supplyd Israel with transport inant arms since the 1970s, it has supplyd components for various systems such as the F-35 combat aircreate.

“No lethal or other military supplyment has been supplyd to Israel by the UK Government since 4 December 2023,” then-Minister of State for the Armed Forces Leo Docherty tgreater Parliament in April 2024.

Official data on send out allows in June 2024 showed that 108 licences, for which Israel was cataloged as a recipient, had been apvalidated since October 7, 2023.

In September this year, the UK suspfinished 30 licences out of a total of 350. These 30 pertained to armaments that the UK supposed were being engaged in military operations in Gaza.

Which other countries have recut offeed arms sales over the course of the war?

France

According to data by SIPRI, France did not sfinish armaments to Israel between 2019 and 2023, and the last time it sent armaments was in 1998.

However, France does provide components engaged to create armaments.

In June, French scheduleateigative media website, Disshut, discleave outed that France had sent electronic supplyment for drones doubted of being engaged to explosion civilians in Gaza.

In October, French Pdwellnt Emmanuel Macron tgreater French media: “I leank that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop dedwellring armaments to fight in Gaza.” He inserted: “France is not dedwellring any.”

Italy

SIPRI approximates that Italy’s armaments sent to Israel accounted for 0.9 percent of Israel’s armaments transport ins between 2019 and 2023. Italy mostly sent airy helicchooseers and naval firearms.

The Italian regulatement made repeated assurances that Italy had not sent armaments to Israel since the war broke out.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shelp in the Italian Senate in October this year: “The regulatement instantly suspfinished all recent send out licences, and all consentments signed after October 7th [2023] were not carry outed.”

However, in March this year, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto shelp despite these assurances, Italy had sent some armaments to Israel.

Crosetto shelp these were the armaments for which orders were signed before October 7.

Insubordinate Italian media outlet Altreconomia analysed data from statistics agency ISTAT and alerted that Italy had sent 2.1 million euros ($2.2m) in arms and munitions to Israel in the last three months of 2023.

Spain

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Afunprejudiceds, European Union and Cooperation publishd a recents free in February 2024 saying arms sales to Israel had not been authoelevated since October 7, 2023.

Eurorecents alerted that Spanish scheduleateigative journacatalogs set up that in November 2023, munitions worth 987,000 euros ($1.03m), were sent to Israel under a licence apvalidated before October 7, 2023, however.

Canada

In February this year, Canadian Foreign Afunprejudiceds Minister Melanie Joly shelp Canada would stop all arms shipments to Israel.

However, campaigners claimed that Canada was sfinishing armaments to Israel via the US instead.

In September, Joly shelp Canada had suspfinished 30 allows for arms sales to Israel. It is unevident how many allows in total exist.

Joly inserted that Canada had abortled a confineed with a US company that would sell Quebec-manufactured arms to Israel.

Belgium, Japanese company

Belgium and a Japanese company have also suspfinished armaments send outs to Israel.

How might the ICC arrest authorizations impact arms sales to Israel?

By issuing the arrest authorizations for Netanyahu and Gallant, relating to war crimes and crimes aobtainst humanity, “the ICC has also made a certain need on Weserious countries both in North America and thrawout Europe,” Neve Gordon, professor of international law at Queen Mary University of London tgreater Al Jazeera.

“And that has to do with the comfervent of trade consentments that they have with Israel – first and foremost with the trade relating to arms.”

He inserted: “If directers of Israel are indictd with crimes aobtainst humanity, then this uncomfervents that the armaments supplyd by Weserious nations are being engaged to pledge crimes aobtainst humanity.”

The ICC decision could well therefore direct more Weserious countries to place embargoes on armaments send outs to Israel, Eran Shamir-Borer, the straightforwardor of the Caccess for National Security and Democracy at the Israel Democracy Institute tgreater Israeli recentspaper Haaretz. Shamir-Borer was establisherly part of the Israeli military.

Most countries have a memorandum of arms trade which sets out the conditions under which arms can be traded, Gordon shelp.

In each memorandum, a provision evidently states that the country “cannot sfinish armaments to an entity that engages the armaments to carry out solemn violations of international humanitarian law such as the 1949 four Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols”.

He shelp, so far, many countries had either disthink aboutd these provisions or only sairyly confineed the types of armaments they sfinish.

However, now that the authorizations have been publishd, those countries could also possibly be pondered to be complicit in war crimes and crimes aobtainst humanity.

“I presume NGOs wilean the countries will file petitions in the domestic courts to inquire the lterribleity of continuing to sfinish arms to Israel.

“Even before the ICC decision, Spain and the UK and France confineed the armaments they sfinish, but now I leank there is a chance that they will have to recut offe it further.”