Recent findings revealed that the United Kingdom rubber-stamped arms sales worth over £14 million ($17.8 million) to the Tel Aviv regime last year despite the fact that Israeli soldiers were accused of intentionally firing on Palestinians along the fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip from the Israeli-occupied territories. The sale was approved the same week former British Prime Minister Theresa May called the Palestinian killings "extremely concerning", and said there was an urgent need to find out why Israeli forces had used live fire.
“While we do not question the right of Israel to defend its borders, the use of live fire and the resulting loss of life is deeply troubling. We urge Israel to show restraint,” May added.
The revelations come after a UK court ordered the British government last week to stop approving arms sales to Saudi Arabia because it failed to fully assess whether the weapons might be used in breach of international humanitarian law in the atrocious military campaign Yemen.
The Great March of Return was launched in late March 2018 in an effort to shed light on the Palestinian refugees' right of return and pressure Israel to lift the 13-year-long blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Since the start of the border protests, the Israeli occupation army has killed more than 310 Palestinians and injured over 31,000 in the Gaza Strip.
A UN fact-finding mission has announced that Israeli forces committed rights violations during their crackdown against Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip last year that may amount to “war crimes”, urging the regime’s military to prevent its snipers from using lethal force against the demonstrators.
The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory presented its full report in mid-May, saying Israeli forces breached international human rights by using live ammunition against unarmed Palestinian protesters during the anti-Israel demonstrations in Gaza
The UN has warned that 1,700 Gazans shot by Israel Defense Forces at protests may need amputations in the next two years because of a lack of healthcare funding to help them recover.
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