Israel committing war crimes in Gaza in plain sight, says former British diplomat | Israel-Gaza War

Israel is committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip “blatantly and regularly,” according to a former British diplomat who recently resigned because his ministers failed to ban arms sales to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Mark Smith, who resigned from his post as counter-terrorism officer at the British Embassy in Dublin after raising complaints about British arms sales to Israel, told the BBC on Monday that he believed Israel was violating international law.

Smith told Radio 4's Today programme: “If you look at what constitutes a war crime, it is actually quite clear, even from the open source information on television, that the State of Israel is openly committing war crimes.

“Anyone who has a basic understanding of these things can see that war crimes are being committed here, not once, not twice, not a few times, but blatantly and openly and regularly.”

Smith's resignation became public over the weekend after a resignation email was leaked in which he accused senior members of the Israeli government of “open genocidal intentions”. In a message sent to hundreds of officials and advisers, Smith said there was “no justification for the UK's continued arms sales to Israel, and yet somehow they continue”.

The resignation came as the British government is reviewing its arms export licensing rules to Israel. David Lammy, the current foreign secretary, called for a “pause” on sales while in opposition, but has said since taking office that he was reviewing restrictions on “offensive weapons in Gaza”.

Lammy's investigation was delayed due to the deepening Middle East crisis and legal difficulties in distinguishing between offensive and defensive weapons.

While that investigation is ongoing, lawyers have filed complaints at the High Court in London alleging that Palestinians are being tortured, left untreated in hospitals and unable to escape constant bombardment. The lawyers are seeking an injunction banning further arms sales because they say there is a risk the weapons could be used to violate international humanitarian law.

Arms manufacturers applying for an export license to sell to Israel have been told that the issuance of new licenses has been suspended pending review.

Smith, who said he previously led a government assessment of the legality of arms sales to various countries, said Monday that he had raised his concerns with the Secretary of State and “at virtually every level of the organization.”

When asked what answer he was given, he replied: “I resigned over this issue, so you can put the pieces together. But suffice it to say that every answer was unsatisfactory.”