Contrary to the United States, which has pressured Israel to halt weapon support, the United Kingdom has expressed its stance to continue weapons exports to Israel. However, the UK has opposed the invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, where civilian protection measures have not been established.
According to The Guardian on May 9th (GMT), UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, in a Q&A session with the press following a speech marking his six months in office, explained foreign policy differences between the UK and the US. He stated, “The situations in the UK and the US are fundamentally different,” and expressed his intention to continue weapons exports to Israel. Secretary Cameron mentioned, “The US has supplied weapons to Israel on a national level, but we have not yet supported it on a national level. The volume that the UK exports does not even reach 1% of the total weapons supplied to Israel.” He further emphasized that the UK adheres to “the strictest and most thorough licensing procedure in the world” regarding weapons exports and will continue to meticulously follow this procedure.
However, the UK has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the ground battle in Rafah that Israel insists on. Secretary Cameron stated, “Our position on Rafah is clear. We do not support major operations in Rafah unless there is a definite plan to save civilians,” and “So far, no such plan is visible.” He is also focusing on improving humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and explained that the flow of relief supplies is improving as the passage through the Rafah border checkpoint resumed on May 8th.