UK Arms Exports to Israel Continue Despite Government Ban, New Report Reveals
Data shows thousands of munitions and fighter jet parts sent after official suspension, raising questions of government transparency and legality
UK, PUREWILAYAH.COM - A new report has revealed that the United Kingdom continued to export thousands of military items, including munitions and fighter jet parts, to Israel for months after the government announced a suspension of arms export licences in September 2024. The findings, based on Israeli import data and published by a coalition of campaign groups, have sparked accusations that senior ministers misled Parliament and the public about the true scale and nature of UK arms shipments to Israel.
According to the report, more than 160,000 military goods—including bombs, grenades, missiles, and aircraft parts—were sent from the UK to Israel between October 2023 and March 2025. Notably, 8,630 separate munitions were shipped after the government’s partial suspension of 30 arms export licences, with most of these items falling under the category of “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof” Middle East Eye, Palestine Chronicle.
The report also found that shipments of F-35 fighter jet components—a key element in Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza—continued to arrive in Israel as recently as March 2025, despite the government’s claim that such exports had been suspended due to concerns over violations of international humanitarian law.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy and other ministers had previously assured Parliament that most UK exports to Israel were “defensive in nature,” such as helmets and goggles, and not what would be “routinely described as arms.” However, the new evidence shows that the UK has sent thousands of items defined as arms and ammunition, far exceeding the government’s public statements Stop the War.
The revelations have prompted calls from MPs for a full investigation and for the government to disclose all details of arms exports to Israel since October 2023. Former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell stated,
“If Parliament has been misled by the foreign secretary or any minister, it is a resigning matter and more importantly it attracts potentially a charge of complicity in war crimes.”
MP Zarah Sultana added that the findings show the government
“Has been lying to us about the arms it is supplying to Israel while it wages genocide in Gaza.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office responded that the government had suspended relevant licences for the Israeli Defence Forces that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, and insisted that the vast majority of remaining licences were for civilian purposes or re-export. However, campaigners and legal experts argue that the continued export of F-35 components and other military goods undermines the UK’s obligations under international law and raises serious questions about government transparency and accountability.
The report’s release comes just days before the government is due to face a High Court challenge over the legality of its arms exports to Israel, with campaigners and MPs demanding an immediate halt to all such exports and a full public inquiry into the UK’s role in the conflict. (PW)
Source: The Cradle