UK sanctions on Israel result in no extra arms export suspensions

The UK government’s new sanctions on Israel have resulted in zero arms export licences being revoked or suspended, it can be revealed.

Earlier this month, Ed Miliband announced a fresh range of measures against Israel including a ban on trade with illegal settlements.

The foreign secretary also addressed arms export licences, declaring that applications for “arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation” of Palestine would be refused.

This would amount to a “double lock against arms sales” to Israel, Miliband said.

Over subsequent days, Miliband and other ministers came out to promote the new restrictions, indicating they went much further than Keir Starmer’s ban on 30 out of approximately 350 arms export licences for Israel in 2024.

But information now disclosed to parliament details how the measures have not resulted in any arms export licences for Israel being cancelled or blocked.

In response to a question from Iqbal Mohamed MP, the trade department acknowledged last week how “no additional licences have been revoked or suspended since 8 September 2026”.

This was “largely because licences for items that might materially contribute to the occupation have already been suspended because of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza conflict”.

That the new measures have made no material impact on the flow of military items between London and Tel Aviv has raised concerns that the sanctions have not gone nearly far enough.

Dearbhla Minogue, a lawyer from Global Legal Action Network which took the UK to court over arms exports to Israel , told Declassified : “This appears to mean no concrete consequences for Israel after this government recognised the likelihood of war crimes, ethnic cleansing and what it terms Israeli terrorism”.

Minogue said the government should go further by recognising the risk of genocide in Gaza and do “everything in its power to prevent Israel from completing what it started”.

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Not far enough

The government insists that many of the extant licences for Israel cover items that are for re-export to a third country or military-grade goods for civilian use such as body armour.

Yet fighter jet components are still being exported to global spares pools used by Israel, and UK-made trainer aircraft parts, which help to sustain the F-35 programme , continue to flow directly to Tel Aviv.

When asked about trainer aircraft, the trade department told parliament that such components “are not used in Gaza and… do not materially contribute to Israel’s illegal occupation”.

This is despite the Foreign Office previously acknowledging that Israel’s M-346 trainer aircraft are “used to train IAF fast-jet pilots” and “facilitate the development of an offensive capacity”.

Martin Butcher, Oxfam’s policy advisor on arms and conflict, said his organisation is concerned that Miliband’s “intent to end UK military support for Israeli authorities’ unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory…is being undermined by a very narrow reading of international law obligations”.

He said the sale of all F-35 and trainer aircraft components to Israel “must stop immediately”.

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Enduring military ties

Despite the sanctions, the Ministry of Defence maintains contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds with Israeli arms firms which profit from and help sustain the occupation of Palestine.

Just days before Miliband announced the trade sanctions, more than 300 British soldiers were participating in a “landmark” training exercise facilitated by Israel’s largest arms firm, Elbit Systems.

Meanwhile the Israeli state owns the Pearson Engineering arms factory in Newcastle which was recently awarded a £10m contract by the British army.

When asked whether Pearson will be subject to sanctions, the UK government insisted that it wants to “protect legitimate trade between the UK and Israel”.

The decision not to impose a two-way arms embargo also means Israeli weaponry and technology can continue to flow to Britain.

UN trade data recently showed the value of military goods sent from Israel to the UK increased by a factor of more than 100 between 2023 and 2025, from £55,000 to £5.9 million.

Additional concerns about Britain’s arms export licensing regime surround whether UK-made drone engines and other military items are being sent to Israel without any export licence .

Campaign Against Arms Trade media co-ordinator Emily Apple said: “The so-called double lock on arms exports to Israel is nothing more than a soundbite; a smokescreen designed to appease voters, whilst failing to deliver meaningful policy change.

She added: “Business is still booming for UK and Israeli arms companies… Yet again, the government has failed to uphold international law, and failed the Palestinian people”.

The Foreign Office and Department for Trade were approached for comment.

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