News

A committee of British lawmakers said it regrets that arms components made in Britain were used by Israel during its military operation in Gaza.

The Arms Export Controls committee recommended that the government "continue to do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen in future," said a report published last week, the London Jewish Chronicle reported.

The report also supported the government's decision to not sell certain arms components to Israel, a decision made after the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

The annual report, which also discussed arms sales to several other countries, including Sri Lanka, Burma and Ukraine, focused primarily on Israel.

Each year, between nine and 26 Israeli requests to buy arms components have been refused because Britain believes they are not used in a manner consistent with European Union regulations, and Israel is regularly among the top three to four countries to be refused sales, Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell told the committee, according to the Chronicle.