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A British civil servant at the Foreign Office has resigned over what he described as his government's involvement in Israeli war crimes, media reports said. Gaza StripBy selling weapons to Tel Aviv.
The Middle East Eye website quoted its sources as saying that a “senior” official in the Foreign Office sent an email to employees after Mark Smith's resignation, explaining that the concerns of employees who objected to the British government's policy on the Gaza issue “had been heard,” promising to hold a hearing in this regard soon.
Journalist Hind Hassan published – via her account on the X platform – the message attributed to the resigned government employee, which read: “It is sad that I resign after a long career in diplomatic service, and yet I can no longer perform my duties while I know that this ministry may be complicit in war crimes.”
The author describes himself as having previously participated in the evaluation process of arms export licenses in the Middle East and North Africa Division, and as an “expert in the field of arms sales policy.”
Full resignation letter from FCDO British diplomat Mark Smith: pic.twitter.com/k9y7varCHC
— Hind Hassan (@HindHassanNews) August 16, 2024
Calls for a similar stance
The letter continues: “There is no justification for continued British arms sales to Israel, yet they continue in one way or another.”
“I have raised this issue at all levels of the organization, including through a formal investigation, and have received nothing more than a 'Thank you, we have noted your concern,'” the employee to whom the letter is attributed added.
The letter's author says that the matter has been ignored in this way, “which is deeply concerning, and it is my duty as a public servant to raise this issue,” calling on officials “to join the many colleagues who have also raised concerns about this issue.”
“I hope more diplomats will follow Mark Smith’s courageous leadership and speak out against the facilitators of Israel’s atrocities,” Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, commented on the letter.
British newspapers reported that London had suspended its arms exports to Israel, but the British government denied their accuracy.
The British Guardian newspaper reported that civil servants have stopped processing arms export licenses to Israel until the government's review of the licenses and claims of violations of humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip is completed.
A British government spokesman told The Times that there had been no change in the UK's approach to export licences to Israel.
