Cameron: Banning British arms exports to Israel may increase the power of Hamas

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron confirmed that halting British arms sales to Israel if it launches a ground attack on the city of Rafah in Gaza would increase the strength of the Hamas movement.

Cameron said that he does not support launching an operation in Rafah in the absence of a plan to protect hundreds of thousands of civilians who are taking refuge in the southern border city.

He added in a statement to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), that Britain is in a “completely different situation” from the United States with regard to supplying weapons to Israel, as Britain’s share of them is less than one percent, and the sale of weapons is already subject to the supervision of a strict licensing system. .

Cameron continued: "We can send a political message and say that we will take this political step."

He added: "The last time I was asked to do this, Iran launched a brutal attack on Israel just a few days later, which included the launch of 140 cruise missiles."

He added, "The best response is for Hamas, which runs Gaza, to accept an agreement to release the hostages."

He added: "Simply announcing today that we will change our entire approach to arms exports instead of following our careful process will increase the strength of Hamas and reduce the chances of concluding a hostage agreement. I do not believe that this approach would be the right one."

Earlier, Israel issued orders to evacuate new areas of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, indicating that it is moving forward with its plans to launch a ground attack despite US President Joe Biden’s threat to stop supplying it with some weapons if it does so .