Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has said it is “shameful” to call for the UK to end arms sales to Israel.
Three Britons were among the seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers who died in airstrikes in Gaza carried out by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on Monday.
Israeli officials have dismissed two officers over the strikes, which were described as a “grave mistake stemming from a serious failure”.
British foreign secretary David Cameron said the UK will carefully review findings of the initial IDF report into the incident released on Friday.
The incident has led to widespread calls from MPs from all major parties to end UK arms sales to Israel, as well as a letter signed by more than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court justices.
In his column for The Daily Mail, Mr Johnson said those supporting the end of arms sales were “clamouring for us to turn our backs on the only democracy in the Middle East”.
He stated that if the UK stopped arms sales, it would encourage the UK to also end their military support of Israel, therefore “willing the military defeat of Israel and the victory of Hamas”.
He wrote: “Remember that in order to win this conflict, Hamas only has to survive. All they need at the end is to hang on, rebuild, and go again. That’s victory for Hamas; and that is what these legal experts seem to be asking for.”
He further asserted that Mr Cameron had been silent on the issue, saying the UK foreign secretary had “gone into a kind of purdah” on arms sales.
Mr Johnson said it was “shattering” to see deaths of three British aid workers, but that Israel was sending warnings of their attacks and “trying to use precision munitions”.
He said: “If the West continues to crumble — and especially if Britain and the US crumble — then the Israelis will be prevented from getting into Rafah. They will be prevented from achieving their objective: of finishing Hamas as a military force in Gaza.”
He added: “Is that really what you want, all you legal experts who say that Israel’s actions now necessitate an arms embargo? Do you want to hand victory to a bunch of murderers and rapists?”
Mr Johnson concluded that the banning of arms sales would be “insane” and “shameful”.
He added: “The sooner the Government formally denounces the idea, the better.”
