Israel (Hansard, 11 March 2002)

§ Mr. Kaufman
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists(a) since 7 March 2001 and (b) during the 12 months prior to that date. [40964]

§ Mr. Bradshaw
As I said to my right hon. Friend in my previous answer on the same subject on 6 December 2001, casualty figures can be unreliable. Israeli Government figures show that about 65 Israelis were killed in the twelve months before 7 March 2001, and 255 since then to 6 March. From the start of the intifada in September 2000 to the end of February 2002, 1,087 Palestinians have been killed, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
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§ Mr. Galloway
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether British-made components are in use on(a)) Israeli Apache helicopters, (b)) Merkave tanks, (c) F16 jets and (d) armoured personnel carriers; and if he will make a statement. [40796]

§ Mr. Bradshaw
In answer to(a), (b) and (c), we have no evidence that equipment or components manufactured in the UK and licensed for export by this Government have been used by Israeli forces against civilians in the Occupied Territories during the recent and continued violence. We would plainly be most concerned if such evidence came to light.
New information has, however, come to light that UK supplied equipment licensed for export under a previous Administration and a different export control regime is being used by the Israelis in the Occupied Territories. The Israelis have modified a number of Centurion tanks, exported to Israel between 1958 and 1970, into armoured personnel carriers.
This contradicts a written assurance that the Israeli Government gave us on 29 November 2000 that no UK originated equipment nor any UK originated systems/sub-systems/components are used as part of the Israel Defence Force's activities in the Territories
We shall be seeking an explanation from the Israeli Government. I shall inform my hon. Friend and the House of the outcome.
We consider all export licence applications to Israel on a case by case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria, taking careful account on a case by case basis of the nature of the equipment and the proposed end-use and end-user.