Achi news desk-
The SNP leader told the Prime Minister: “The civilian death toll is intolerable, as is the killing of humanitarian workers who provide vital aid to Palestinians facing starvation and violence at the hands of this Israeli government.
“By not stopping arms sales to Israel, the UK risks being complicit in the killing of innocent civilians.”
The SNP is already calling on MPs to return to the House of Commons early from their Easter break to “debate and vote on ending arms sales to Israel”.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf marks first anniversary as Prime Minister
Stephen Flynn, the leader of the SNP in Westminster, said, “if the UK Government is not willing to act then Parliament should force them to do so”.
Meanwhile Mr Yousaf, whose parents-in-law were trapped in Gaza for several weeks last year after the conflict erupted, said Israel’s “actions have long gone beyond a legitimate response.”
In his letter to Mr Sunak, the Prime Minister said: “The UK Government continues to allow British companies to arm Israel despite the fact that Israel has killed children, women, aid workers and bombed hospitals, schools and refugee camps .”
The Prime Minister has however defended the UK’s “careful export licensing regime”.
Speaking to the Sun newspaper’s Never Mind the Ballots show, Mr Sunak said: “I think we’ve always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to.
“There is a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we will always follow.”
Mr Sunak said he had been “consistently clear” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the start of the conflict while the UK would “defend Israel’s right to defend itself and its people against attacks by Hamas, it they must do so in accordance with international humanitarian law, to protect civilian lives”.
He stressed the importance of getting more aid to Gaza, saying: “That’s what we’ve consistently called for and what we really want to see is an immediate humanitarian pause to allow more aid in, and crucially, the hostages to be released, and that is what we will continue to push for.”
