UK diplomat resigns in protest over arms sales to Israel

Mark Smith steps down from Foreign Office, denouncing the UK's arms export policies as complicit in Gaza atrocities

Listen to article

LONDON:

A British diplomat has resigned over the UK's "complicity in war crimes" in Gaza, saying there is "no justification" for the UK's continued arms sales to Israel.

A resignation letter, criticising the government's continuing arms sales to Israel was reported by media on Friday, attributed to Mark Smith, a diplomat working at the Foreign Office.

Early Sunday, the BBC confirmed that the diplomat is indeed Smith who worked on counterterrorism and has resigned in protest at arms sales to Israel.

"It is with sadness that I resign after a long career in the diplomatic service ... I can no longer carry out my duties in the knowledge that this Department may be complicit in War Crimes," read the letter.

The Foreign Office is said to have declined to comment on the individual case, saying the government is "committed to upholding international law."

Smith, who previously worked in Middle East arms export licensing assessment for the government, said: "Ministers claim that the UK has one of the most 'robust and transparent' arms export licensing regimes in the world, however, this is the opposite of the truth."

He said each day they witness "clear and unquestionable examples of war crimes and breaches of International Humanitarian Law" in Gaza perpetrated by Israel.

The letter added: "Over half of Gaza's homes and over 80% of commercial properties have been damaged or destroyed ... humanitarian aid is being blocked and civilians are regularly left with no safe quarter to flee to. Red Crescent ambulances have been attacked, schools and hospitals are regularly targeted. These are war crimes."

"There is no justification for the UK's continued arms sales to Israel yet somehow it continues," he said.

"I have raised this at every level in the organisation including through an official whistle blowing investigation and received nothing more than 'thank you we have noted your concern,'" read the letter.

The resignation e-mail was sent to a wide set of distribution lists including hundreds of government officials, embassy staff and special advisers to Foreign Office ministers, according to the BBC.

The move was praised by many on social media, including by Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.

"I hope that more diplomats will follow the brave lead of Mark Smith and speak up against the enablers of Israel's atrocities," she wrote on X.

In June, the Department for Business and Trade said the UK has issued 108 arms export licenses to Israel since Oct. 7 – when the Gaza conflict began – while over 300 licenses were still active as of May.