Declassified documents show UK aware of Israeli war crimes for 24 years

UK Foreign Office files, nationalist since 2024, grounds warnings astir Israeli unit and rights abuses since 2002.

British diplomats condemned Israeli behaviour successful the occupied West Bank arsenic a signifier of quality rights abuses successful 2002 – 24 years earlier London took a tougher stance towards Israel this week.

These decades-old condemnations are contained successful UK Foreign Office files written during the medication of erstwhile Prime Minister Tony Blair portion Israel undertook a brutal 2002 violative successful the occupied West Bank.

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The files, released successful 2024 and reported successful a caller investigation by the website Declassified UK, grounds British diplomats describing a signifier of abuses by a authorities their ain authorities would spell connected to limb for the adjacent 2 decades.

Today, Blair sits connected the Board of Peace that presides implicit Gaza, wherever Israel’s disregard for Palestinian lives and the rules of warfare has been demonstrated connected a genocidal scale, portion the UK’s recently seated enactment notation to Israel’s actions arsenic “a stain connected the conscience of the world”.

But what did the British authorities already cognize astir Israel’s actions much than 20 years ago?

What the files say

That grounds begins successful March 2002, erstwhile then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon launched Operation Defensive Shield successful retaliation for a question of attacks by Palestinian equipped groups, including Hamas.

Israeli forces tore done the occupied West Bank, sidesplitting 500 Palestinians successful a azygous month, mostly civilians, and injuring different 1,500.

British officials were profoundly alert of the standard of violations committed by Israeli forces.

A Foreign Office authoritative wrote astatine the clip that Israeli subject operations successful the West Bank progressive a “pattern” of “human rights abuses”.

A elder British service serviceman was much blunt, calling the Israeli subject a “second-rate, ill-disciplined, swaggering and bullying force”.

“They routinely usage excessive unit specified arsenic firing astatine the ‘legs’ of chromatic throwers oregon astatine ‘car tyres’ with the inevitable watercourse of ambulances ferrying youths to infirmary with fatal slug wounds to the caput and body,” wrote the serviceman who was unnamed successful the files.

Those concerns were enactment to the Israeli authorities directly.

Lord Michael Levy, Blair’s peculiar envoy, warned then-Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer that determination was nary subject solution, and that the run would lone nutrient much termination bombers.

The Israeli violations described successful the files person lone multiplied, adjacent becoming regular crossed occupied Palestinian territory.

Officials besides wrote of Red Cross unit threatened astatine gunpoint, and their ambulances not allowed to scope the wounded. Today, intimidation and targeting of medics has go modular operating process for Israeli forces and settlers.

The World Health Organization has documented 3,254 Israeli attacks connected healthcare crossed the occupied Palestinian territory implicit 20 years, sidesplitting oregon injuring much than 4,200 patients and aesculapian staff. More than fractional of those attacks – and the deadliest of them – person travel successful the past 3 years.

What the UK did next

Armed with the cognition of Israel’s systematic quality rights abuses, Blair’s authorities did act.

In 2002, it secretly halted arms exports to Israel for a time, aft confirming British instrumentality was being utilized successful occupied territory successful breach of guarantees given.

But nary UK authorities has gone arsenic acold arsenic that little embargo since.

As Israel’s unit escalated, the British effect to it has diminished.

When, successful 2008-2009, Israel killed astir 1,400 Palestinians during 22 days of Operation Cast Lead successful Gaza, much than 8 successful 10 of them civilians, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown revoked licences for weapons connected Israeli navy rocket boats.

When Israel’s 2014 battle connected Gaza killed 2,251 Palestinians, among them 551 children, David Cameron’s authorities identified 12 licences for suspension. It besides said it would enactment if hostilities resumed; it did not.

When Israel’s existent genocidal run successful Gaza had already killed 40,000 by September 2024, Keir Starmer’s authorities lone suspended 30 of 350 arms licences for Israel. Campaign groups aboriginal reported thousands of munitions reaching Israel anyway. That toll present stands astatine 73,658 Palestinians killed, including 21,500 children.

That is the grounds Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s authorities hinted it whitethorn yet interruption with, arsenic the UK and 11 different countries this period backed restrictions connected commercialized with amerciable Israeli ⁠settlements successful the occupied West Bank.