TEHRAN - Over 600 UK-based lawyers, legal academics, and former senior members of the judiciary have advised the British government to take immediate measures against the Israeli occupation.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has been issued a blunt warning over its complicity in the Israeli genocidal campaign against the population of Gaza. 

Four former Supreme Court justices, including the former President to the highest court in the UK, are among 600 attorneys and legal academics who have signed an open letter warning the British government that it has breached international law in its support for the Israeli regime. 

The letter was penned in light of recent developments that include the provisional order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 26 January 2024, in which the highest UN Court concluded that there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. 

The UN Security Council Resolution 2728 on 25 March 2024 demanding an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan and the worsening situation in Gaza where the UN and international aid agencies warn of imminent famine, and where a ground offensive is threatened in Rafah, have also been noted. 

Rafah is the last place of refuge for two-thirds of the Gaza population, despite being attacked by the Israeli military on an almost daily basis now. 

The signatories have warned the government of its obligations under international law, which require it to take, amongst others, five immediate measures. 

These include imposing sanctions on Israeli individuals, including government ministers and Israeli entities who have made statements inciting genocide against Palestinians. 

“Imposing financial and/or immigration sanctions upon individuals who have incited the commission of genocide the UK would deter further such incitement and thus be acting to prevent genocide in accordance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention,” the letter notes. 

While legal experts welcomed UK sanctions against some Israeli settlers, they have called on the government to apply sanctions against senior members of the Israeli government and military responsible for the incitement of genocide in Gaza. 

Another main demand is to suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to the Israeli government. 

“The suspension of their provision is a means likely to deter and/or a measure to prevent genocide.” 

The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of international humanitarian law, the legal experts warned. 

A state is complicit in the commission of genocide if “its organs were aware that genocide was about to be committed or was under way.” 

On 23 February 2024, more than three dozen UN experts called for the immediate cessation of weapons exports to the Israeli regime, including export licenses and military aid. 

“Such transfers are prohibited even if the exporting state does not intend the arms to be used in violation of the law – or does not know with certainty that they would be used in such a way – as long as there is a clear risk,” the UN experts warned. 

The UK legal warning to the British government emphasizes that “this necessitates halting arms exports in the present circumstances.” 

“Continued arms exports to Israel moreover give rise to concerns regarding the United Kingdom’s compliance with its obligation under The Arms Trade Treaty.” 

Other measures include the need to urgently work actively and effectively with all the means available to the government for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. 

To take all available measures to ensure safe access to and delivery of the essentials of existence and medical assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, including confirmation that UK funding to UNRWA will continue with immediate effect. 

Western states suspended funds to the main UN agency in Gaza after the Israeli regime claimed 12 of the 13,000 UNRWA members were involved in Operation al-Aqsa Storm without providing any evidence. 

Reports have since surfaced that the 12 UN aid agency staff were tortured by the Israeli military to obtain a confession. 

The senior British attorneys also called for the suspension of the “2030 Road Map for UK-Israeli bilateral relations, any efforts to enhance trade agreements and to initiate a review into the suspension of the UK’s bilateral trade agreement with “Israel and consider the imposition of sanctions”.  

The 27-page letter documents an abundance of evidence indicating the UK has breached international law and international humanitarian law amid the absence of any action by Britain (a staunch Israeli supporter) to prevent genocide in Gaza. 

Among the warnings of British complicity in genocide is that ICJ provisional orders are binding on all state parties to the proceedings. 

On 16 February 2024 the ICJ highlighted the most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences”. 

On 28 March 2024, the ICJ issued a further order. It noted that “the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip which existed when it issued its Order of 26 January 2024 has deteriorated even further” with “unprecedented levels of food insecurity experienced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over recent weeks, as well as the increasing risk of epidemics.” 

Since the ICJ’s provisional order, an average of 108 Palestinians have been killed and another 178 injured each day in Gaza. 

70 to 75 percent of recorded deaths have consistently been women and children. 

The letter warns the UK must take immediate measures to bring to an end through lawful means actions that increase a serious risk of genocide. 

“Failure to comply with its own obligations under the Genocide Convention to take all measures to prevent genocide which were within its power would incur UK state responsibility for the commission of an international wrong, for which full reparation must be made,” the legal experts warn. 

The authors of the letter also note the risk of famine and deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war, another war crime, as well as torture and inhuman or degrading treatment against Palestinians. 

The destruction of Gaza’s health facilities and Israeli government ministers making genocidal statements are among the other facts mentioned that demonstrate a rising pattern of Israeli genocidal intent in Gaza. 

The legal academics say the UK has a legal obligation to do everything in its power to prevent genocide in Gaza, noting “states are required to employ all means reasonably available to them” to prevent genocide and responsibility is incurred if “the State manifestly failed to take all measures to prevent genocide which were within its power”. 

The letter cites evidence in Gaza that constitute a serious risk of genocide sufficient to trigger the UK’s legal obligations. 

The stark reminder for the British government, as cited in the letter, warns articles in the Genocide Convention “provide that direct and public incitement to commit genocide and complicity in genocide are also punishable.” 

In November 2021, the British government signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel that raised the ties between the two sides to a “strategic partnership” and announced deepening ties and collaboration in multiple areas. 

In March 2023, the British and Israeli governments announced a 2030 roadmap for UK-Israeli bilateral ties, which set out plans to deepen and expand their collaboration “underpinned by extensive security and defense cooperation”. 

The relationship between the British government and the Israeli occupation “has never been closer,” the letter points out. 

The opposition Labour party said the government should publish any legal advice it has received regarding whether the Israeli occupation had breached international law – and suspend arms sales if there was a risk weapons could be used in “a serious breach of international humanitarian law”. 

Other UK political parties, including the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party, have called for British arms exports destined for Tel Aviv to be blocked.