HRW UK: Britain 'needs to stop arms exports to Israel'

'ICJ finds 'plausible risk of genocide and UK has obligation to prevent genocide and not be complicit,' says UK director of Human Rights Watch

Following a "landmark decision" by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, the UK is facing mounting pressure to immediately cease arms exports to Tel Aviv. The call comes in the wake of the top UN court's judgment for provisional measures, highlighting a plausible risk of genocide in the region. Yasmine Ahmed, the UK director of the Human Rights Watch, emphasized the imperative for Britain to fulfill its obligation to prevent genocide. "There is no question. In light of the provisional measures judgment by ICJ, the UK must halt arms exports to Israel with immediate effect," the Human Rights Watch representative said on X. "The Court found a plausible risk of genocide & the UK has an obligation to prevent genocide and not be complicit," she added. The ICJ ordered Israel to take "all measures within its power" to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, but fell short of ordering a cease-fire. South Africa, which brought the case, had asked the court to rule on interim measures, including that Israel immediately cease its military operations in Gaza, take reasonable measures to prevent the genocide of Palestinians, and ensure that displaced people return to their homes and have access to humanitarian assistance. Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip in the wake of an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas. The Israeli response has killed 26,083 Palestinians and injured 64,487 others. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack. The Israeli war has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while more than half of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.