A group of four former senior Army officers have written a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for a full arms embargo on Israel, reported BFBS Forces News.

In the letter, seen by the Times, Brigadier John Deverell, Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Graham, Major General Peter Currie and Major General Charlie Herbert say there is clear evidence that the Israeli army is committing war crimes and the UK risks being complicit if they cooperate.

They also urged Sir Keir to ban any involvement with Israeli defence companies.

Brig Deverell served for more than 30 years and was defence attaché to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, while Lt Gen Sir Andrew is the former Director General of the UK Defence Academy. Maj Gen Currie was a military advisor in Bosnia-Herzegovina during his career, while Maj Gen Herbert was a senior military commander in Afghanistan.

Brig Deverell also signed a similar letter in March 2024 calling for an end of arms sales to Israel.

The four officers said evidence of war crimes is "so well documented and compelling that the British government should cut all military collaboration with Israel forthwith, to avoid the charge of complicity".

Although a fragile ceasefire is now in place between Israel and Hamas, the signatories said: "Now is not the time to return to business as usual with the Israeli government."

They added that, in their view, no RAF or British aircraft should be used to support Israeli forces and no military technology should be shared between the UK and Israel.

The signatories also want the Prime Minister to cease any business with the Israeli defence sector.

It comes after the country’s largest manufacturer, Elbit Systems, delivered its ground-based surveillance radar systems to the Royal Artillery, as well as bidding for an Army training contract worth £2 billion.

A government spokesperson said in response to the letter: "In September last year, we suspended licences for items for the IDF that could be used in military operations in Gaza.

"Exports of such equipment remain suspended, and we have refused over 40 applications for licences to export goods to Israel between September 2024 and July this year."

Since October 2023, Israel has waged a devastating war on Gaza with US support, leaving more than 71,000 Palestinians dead and over 171,000 wounded, most of them women and children.

Despite a ceasefire that took effect on October 10 under a proposal advanced by Donald Trump, Israeli attacks have continued almost daily, claiming the lives of at least 411 Palestinians since the agreement came into force.