UN experts call for immediate halt to arms exports to Israeli regime
A group of UN experts has strictly warned against any export of arms that might be used in the Gaza Strip as a violation of the international law and called for an immediate halt to arms export for the occupying Israeli regime.
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The statement is one of the most sharply defined calls for international actors to cease weapons shipments to Israel amid its ongoing war in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 29,000 Palestinians in over four months of intense bombings.
The experts said weapons exports to Israel could be used in Gaza, where there is a "clear risk" that they would be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.
“All States must ‘ensure respect’ for international humanitarian law by parties to an armed conflict, as required by 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary international law,” the experts asserted.
“States must accordingly refrain from transferring any weapon or ammunition – or parts for them – if it is expected, given the facts or past patterns of behavior, that they would be used to violate international law.
The experts added that the transfers of weapons are still "prohibited even if the exporting State does not intend the arms to be used in violation of the law – or does not know with certainty that they would be used in such a way".
The statement also lauded the decision made by a Dutch appeals court on 12 February, in which it ordered the Netherlands to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel.
Still, the main weapons supplier of Israel continues to be the US, which shows no signs of halting or even decreasing its weapons shipments to the country.
The amount of arms Washington gives to Israel even led to criticism from Josep Borrell, the foreign policy chief for the EU.
Israeli regime has poured more than 12,000 bombs to lead one of the most intense bombing campaigns in modern war.
