As the one year anniversary of the brutal Hamas attack on Israel approaches, we are reminded of how Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute, defined Hamas in this way.
A millenarian group, apocalyptic, believing a divine mandate with a religious imperative.
(CBC the Current Oct16, 2023)
The Washington Post published an article on line by Niha Masih, Bryan Pietsch and Ellen Francis that outlined French President Emmanuel Macron’s call to stop delivering weapons to Israel as the war in Gaza grinds on and Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah escalates farther into Lebanon.
At a summit for French-speaking leaders in Paris on Saturday, Macron appeared to take a jab at the United States, by far Israel’s largest supplier of weapons: “If we call for a cease-fire, consistency is to not provide weapons of war,” he said. “And I think that those who provide them cannot every day call for a cease-fire alongside us and continue to supply them.”
The United States has supplied more than $3 billion worth of military aid per year to Israel in recent years, and Israel is the largest beneficiary of U.S. military aid since World War II. Last month, Britain suspended some arms exports to Israel over concerns about potential violations of international humanitarian law, joining several other nations that have taken similar actions in the wake of the war in Gaza. (Macron Urges Countries to ‘Stop Delivering Weapons’ to Israel for War in Gaza, n.d.)
In an article for the Arms Control Organization, earlier in October, Michael T. Klare reports that in what appears to be a growing trend, Canada and the United Kingdom recently joined several other NATO members in banning or otherwise restricting arms transfers to Israel due to its military operations in Gaza.
Belgium, Italy, and Spain already had imposed such measures, claiming that Israel’s relentless air and artillery strikes on Gaza, which have killed an estimated 40,000 people and flattened most residential areas, have violated international law.
The addition of Canada and the UK to this list suggests a growing policy rift with the United States, which is Israel’s major arms provider, responsible for 69 percent of the country’s imports over the past five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The UK decision to constrain arms transfers to Israel was announced Sept. 2 by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who told Parliament that, under the UK Export Control Act of 2002, military gear cannot be exported to any country in which “there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.” (Klare & Al-Qattaa, 2024)
An explainer published by Al-Mayadeen Media Network, an independent Arab satellite news channel, launched on June 11, 2012, and based in the Lebanese capital Beirut, has compiled lists of countries restricting weapons to Israel and countries arming Israel.
This explainer provides a brief summary of Western countries that have restricted or banned their arms exports to "Israel," while highlighting the governments that continue to be complicit in the occupation's ongoing genocide in Gaza. (Countries Restricting Weapons to and Arming 'Israel': Explainer, 2024)
Posts are cited below that provide some background discussion with references that have been previously posted. Next US President and Relationship to Israel reports on how Gaza has accelerated the social and political forces driving America and Israel apart. Resolve and Rafah reviews how many Western countries, traditionally supportive of Israel, oppose a military operation in Rafah that would have catastrophic consequences on the civilian population. Tactics and Terrorism explores if the tactics authorized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "do what is necessary" to protect its north may be closer to terrorism than military action that respects International Humanitarian Law.
A Google search of the International Rule of Law reveals that academic institutions are studying whether acceptance of this concept is in rising or declining acceptance. When the leading nation states question the war conduct of one of the most influential nations, Israel, the meaningful application of the rule of law may be in jeopardy.
References
Countries restricting weapons to and arming 'Israel': Explainer. (2024, September 4). Al Mayadeen English. Retrieved October 6, 2024, from https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/countries-restricting-and-arming-weapons-to--israel---explai
Klare, M. T., & Al-Qattaa, O. (2024, October 1). Canada and UK Restrict Arms Sales to Israel Over Gaza War. Arms Control Association. Retrieved October 6, 2024, from https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2024-10/news/canada-and-uk-restrict-arms-sales-israel-over-gaza-war
Macron urges countries to ‘stop delivering weapons’ to Israel for war in Gaza. (n.d.). The Washington Post - Breaking news and latest headlines, U.S. news, world news, and video - The Washington Post. Retrieved October 6, 2024, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/05/macron-france-stop-arms-israel-gaza-war/
