London, United Kingdom

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron, on Sunday (May 12) said that the United Kingdom will not stop arms sales to Israel even if it launches a ground assault on Gaza’s Rafah amid the ongoing war as it would strengthen Hamas. The UK foreign office also said that it is investigating the claim by the Palestinian militant group that British-Israeli hostage, Nadav Popplewell, has died in Gaza. 

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‘Completely different position’

The British foreign secretary noted that while he did not support an operation in Rafah without Israel having a plan to protect hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering in the southern border city, the UK was in a “completely different position” to the United States. 

WATCH | Hamas says another Israeli hostage held in Gaza is dead

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This comes as US President Joe Biden warned Israel that Washington would withhold the supply of some weapons if it launches a ground assault on Rafah. However, Cameron said the UK supplies less than one per cent of Israel’s weapons and that they are controlled by a strict licensing system.

“We could, if we chose to, make a sort of political message and say we are going to take that political step,” the foreign secretary told BBC, in an interview. 

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He added that the last time he urged to stop sending arms to Israel, there was a “brutal attack by Iran on Israel, including 140 cruise missiles.” 

“Just to simply announce today we’re going to change our whole approach to arms exports rather than go through our careful process, it would strengthen Hamas, it would make a hostage deal less likely, I don’t think it would be the right approach,” said Cameron. 

UK to investigate death of British-Israeli hostage

On Saturday (May 11), Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades released a clip showing British national, Poplewell, 51, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nirim with his mother Channah Peri following the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel. 

Poplewell’s mother was released in a hostage-sharing agreement in November last year, while his brother was killed during the October 7 attacks. 

The 11-second footage shows Nadav in captivity with one black eye and with the text in Arabic and Hebrew that reads: “Time is running out. Your government is lying.” 

Also Read | ‘Time is running out’: Hamas releases video showing hostage, claims he ‘died in Israeli strike’

In a statement, Hamas later claimed “he died of wounds that he sustained in an Israeli air strike more than a month ago.”

During the interview, Cameron confirmed that he had seen the video but did not want to say anything till “we have better information” and called Hamas “callous” for releasing the clip. 

A spokesperson by the UK foreign office later said that it was urgently seeking more information on the matter. 

(With inputs from agencies)