Britain, which is considered to be one of the friendliest countries toward Israel, appealed to senior Israeli officials and demanded that they allow diplomats or Red Cross personnel to visit Hamas terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7th massacre. According to them, this is one of the conditions for continuing to sell weapons to the Jewish State.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron even warned in talks with Israeli officials that if the current situation continues as it is, he will not be surprised if an arms embargo is declared on Israel in Europe as a whole.
Worrying signs that more friendly countries are changing their policies and considering delaying arms shipments or imposing a total embargo on the transfer of weapons to Israel have already been in place, but Britain's demands surprised everyone at the political level.
The British demand to allow visits to October 7th terrorists in detention comes against the background of publications according to which Israel refuses to allow the Red Cross to visit Hamas detainees due to the particularly harsh conditions in which they are held.
About two weeks ago, a team of British lawyers visited Israel. According to the United Kingdom, Israel is acting in violation of international law, which obliges it to hand over a list of detainees to the Red Cross or another international organization and allow visits to take place. But Israel opposes such visits on the grounds that according to international jurisdiction it is not obliged to concur with the demand due to security exceptions.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz even delivered a personal message to British Foreign Minister Cameron through Israel's ambassador to London Tzipi Hotoveli: "This is the time to support the State of Israel and not weaken it. During negotiations for the release of hostages with Hamas, there is no room for measures of this nature (referring to stopping weapons shipments).
We are at a critical point in the talks. Any decision that harms Israel conveys to Hamas that it is possible to withdraw from the negotiations and delay implementation of the deal," added Katz.