"Ending complicity in international crimes: A two-way arms embargo on Israel"

The undersigned organisations demand that States that have provided and continue to provide arms and other forms of military assistance to Israel, adhere to their legal obligations and act resolutely and urgently to prevent Israel from perpetuating further international crimes and other serious violations of international law. This includes their obligations to prevent the commission of genocide.

We remind these States that their binding obligations under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international criminal law, and other international law, including the United Nations (UN) Charter, require that they put an immediate stop to such transfers, and suspend all licenses for arms destined to Israel from their jurisdictions.

States parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) have additional binding obligations under the treaty, and so do States under relevant regional and national legal instruments on arms control.

We recall that providing arms or military support to Israel may make exporting States complicit in its actions...

UN human rights experts sounded the alarm on 19 October 2023, “There is an ongoing campaign by Israel resulting in crimes against humanity in Gaza. Considering statements made by Israeli political leaders and their allies, accompanied by military action in Gaza and escalation of arrests and killing in the West Bank, there is also a risk of genocide against the Palestine people”, emphasising that “There are no justifications or exceptions for such crimes. We are appalled by the inaction of the international community in the face of belligerent war-mongering.”...

In the midst of these attacks, and despite well-documented and reported grave violations and crimes against the Palestinian population over the years, the supply of arms and military support to Israel from the United States (US), — the largest single provider of military aid to Israel for decades,— and from Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom (UK), and the Netherlands — States Parties to the ATT —, has continued. At its 2021 Special Session on the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, the UN Human Rights Council urged all States to refrain from transferring arms when they assess that there is a clear risk that such arms might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations or abuses of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Our organisations are alarmed by the reported news that some States, including the US, the UK, and Germany, have in recent days decided to supply additional military equipment or ‘fast-track’ the supply of military equipment to Israel, in spite of ample evidence of war crimes being committed in Gaza...

Demands for Immediate Measures by States

Imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel is both a legal and a moral obligation. Pending such an embargo, all States must immediately suspend all transfers of military items and associated services and assistance to Israel. ATT States Parties must immediately terminate current, and prohibit future transfers to Israel of conventional arms, munitions, parts and components referred to in Articles 2(1), 3 and 4 of the ATT.

In addition to imposing a two-way arms embargo, States must also refrain from concluding any military cooperation agreements, including military training and intelligence operational cooperation, which could implicate them in international crimes and other serious violations of international law.

Our organisations hence call on:

1. All States to call for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional and unimpeded access of fuel and humanitarian aid, including water, food, and medical supplies, into the Gaza Strip to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis, and the immediate lifting of the 16-year-long illegal blockade and closure;
2. The US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and other States that authorise the continued transfer of arms, and other forms of military support to Israel to:
   • immediately bring an end to such transfers in accordance with their international law obligations, and
   • immediately halt the provision of any materiel, equipment or other commodity that may foreseeably be used in the commission of serious international law violations including international crimes;

1. States importing arms and surveillance technology from Israel to immediately halt all such imports;
2. Transit States to refuse to have their ports and airports used for transferring arms to Israel; and
3. All ATT States Parties to cooperate within relevant international and regional organisations to impose a two-way embargo on transfers of military items to and from Israel, including by supporting the prompt organisation of an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of States Parties, as provided in Article 17.5 of the ATT.