Scottish leader calls for ban on arms sales to Israel

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Scottish leader Humza Yousaf on Wednesday reiterated his call on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Israel following the Israeli army’s killing of aid workers in the Gaza Strip.

"By not stopping arms sales to Israel, the UK is in danger of being complicit in the killing of innocent civilians," Yousaf warned in his letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Reminding that he called on the government in January to ban the license of arms exports from the UK to Israel, the first minister said he has yet to receive a response, adding: "You have taken no such action, despite the death toll continuing to increase."

His remarks came after seven aid workers from the food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli strike on Monday in the Gaza Strip. They were nationals of Australia, Poland, the UK and Palestine as well as a US-Canada dual citizen.

Following the targeted attack, WCK said it was pausing its operations in the region.

The attack has sounded international alarm bells, with many condemning it and demanding a thorough investigation.

Referring to Sunak's statement following Monday's strike, which called for an investigation, Yousaf noted that more than 190 humanitarian workers have died in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, "with no end in sight, no accountability, and little or no sign of Israel paying heed to the International Court of Justice’s ruling or the recent United Nations Security Council resolution."

He said the UK government also continues to allow British-based companies to arm Israel despite the fact that the Israeli army has killed women, children and aid workers and bombed hospitals, schools and refugee camps.

"I have said repeatedly that Israel has the right to defend itself and called for the hostages to be released. I believe, however, that Israel’s actions have long since gone beyond a legitimate response," Yousaf said.

"Enough is enough. The Israeli government must be held to account," he added.

He underlined that the civilian death toll is "intolerable," as is the killing of humanitarian workers who deliver vital aid to Palestinians facing starvation and violence at the hands of this Israeli government.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

At least 32,975 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,577 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked Tel Aviv to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

“Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine...but that famine is setting in,” said the ICJ.