A British diplomat serving in Ireland has resigned in protest over UK arms sales to Israel, believing his country’s Foreign Office could be seen as “complicit in war crimes”.
“There is no justification for Britain’s continued arms sales to Israel,” Mark Smith wrote in the text of his resignation emailed to colleagues and posted on social networking sites.
Mark Smith served as second secretary, specializing in terrorism, at the British embassy in Dublin. He is also considered an expert on arms sales.
In his statement he explained that he had “written to the Foreign Office to inform of his resignation and to plead for an urgent review of Britain’s approach to the situation in Gaza”, according to the BBC. “Every day, we witness clear and indisputable examples of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza by Israel,” he says in his resignation letter. He also claims the UK government does not have a “clear and transparent” license to export arms to Israel and says he raised concerns about the legality of these sales “at all levels” with the Foreign Office but was “ignored”.
The Foreign Office declined to comment on the diplomat’s resignation. A spokesman said the government respects international law and has made clear it will not export items that “could be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of humanitarian law”.
After taking office in early July, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for an investigation into whether arms export licenses to Israel may be facilitating violations of international humanitarian law.
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