30 UK-based medical professionals send open letter to Prime Minister demanding a ban on arms sales to Israel
London, 23rd August 2024- Thirty doctors, nurses and medical professionals based in the UK have written a joint open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy to demand an immediate and total ban on arms sales to Israel and a range of urgent medical and humanitarian interventions. All of the signatories have volunteered in Gaza since October, to provide medical care to Palestinians who have been injured or fallen ill as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza. The signatories note that “with only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both.”
The doctors are “a multi-faith and multi-ethnic group, united not by any political motivation, but by the desire to care for those who are suffering”, writing in their capacity of being “among the only neutral observers who have been permitted to enter the Gaza Strip since 7 October”.
Many signatories have experience in other and previous conflict zones, whilst many work for the NHS. The signatories note that “it is difficult for many of us to recount the scenes we witnessed in Gaza, not least of all in the knowledge that many of the injuries we treated may have resulted from the use of weapons systems and components supplied from Britain.” Some signatories have themselves been direct victims of Israeli airstrikes while residing in medical staffs’ accommodation.
Citing domestic British law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and Britain’s own Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, the letter spoke of both a legal and ethical obligation by the British government, saying that a ban on arms sales “is the morally as well as legally right thing to do.” The Signatories recommend, in line with International Court of Justice rulings, that military, economic, and diplomatic support be withdrawn from Israel, with a full arms embargo implemented until a permanent ceasefire is established.
Additionally, the medical professionals urge pursuit of a range of humanitarian and medical relief as a matter of urgency, including the establishment of field hospitals, the delivery of immunisation programmes, and a new unfettered aid delivery be ensured including for medical professionals, who are to be enabled unimpeded carriage of medical equipment.
The letter follows a similar initiative that took place in the United States in late July, where forty-five American physicians and nurses wrote to President Biden to demand an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo, and a Canadian initiative earlier this month.
Medical professionals who are signatory to the letter are available for comment or interview, to be arranged via the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) at [email protected]
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.
- For more information, to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, or to view a full copy of the letter, please contact the ICJP news desk at [email protected].
- For the American physicians’ letter, please see CNN, 26th July 2024, ‘We cannot remain silent about what we saw.’ US doctors who volunteered in Gaza demand ceasefire in letter to White House
- For the Canadian doctors’ letter, please see Anadolu Agency, 7th August 2024, Group of Canadian doctors demand compliance with ICJ rulings, Gaza access, arms embargo on Israel
- International Court of Justice, 17th July 2024, Advisory Opinion: Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem [“all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”]
Full letter available here: