BRITAIN’S involvement in the Gaza genocide was condemned in a new report by Amnesty International UK, which today highlighted 15 companies profiting from and fuelling Israel’s mass atrocities.

The government is enabling mass atrocities through defence contracts, public-sector deals, supply chains and failures to comply with its legal obligations, said the NGO.

Amnesty released its 20-page report on the first anniversary of a UN general assembly resolution demanding that Israel end its unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory within 12 months of its adoption. 

The NGO’s secretary-general Agnes Callamard said: “Human dignity is not a commodity. While Palestinian mothers in Gaza are left to watch their children waste away from starvation under Israel’s genocide, arms companies and others continue to reap substantial profits.

“Israel’s prolonged unlawful occupation and decades of apartheid have required in-depth and sustained support to Israel through economic relations and trade.

“Amnesty calls on its members and supporters the world over to demand an immediate end to the political economy underpinning Israel’s international crimes.”

The Pull the Plug provides examples of 15 companies for which Amnesty says it has “gathered credible evidence regarding their contribution to Israel’s unlawful actions.”

It also highlights British links, including defence contracts with Elbit Systems, and the British industry’s role in the F-35 programme used by Israel in its genocide in Gaza.

Ms Callamard said: “Today’s briefing identifies actions that states must take to fulfil their obligations, from banning and barring companies contributing or directly linked to Israel’s crimes, to effective legislation and regulation, and including divesting and ceasing purchases or contracts. It also lists actions companies should take, such as suspending sales or contracts and making divestments.

“It is unacceptable that states and companies are aware that their revenues come from death, destruction and immense suffering of Palestinians, yet they have decided to look away, maintain their business models regardless of the human cost, and indulge in their wealth.

“We cannot allow the immense, unfathomable suffering of the Palestinian people to be ignored for a minute longer.”

The report documented the use of Boeing bombs and guidance kits in unlawful air strikes carried out in the occupied Gaza Strip, including in a series of deadly air strikes that killed scores of Palestinian civilians across Gaza, including many children. 

Lockheed Martin was named as supplying and servicing F-16s and Israel’s growing fleet of F-35 combat aircraft — the backbone of the Israeli Air Force and deployed extensively in the bombardment of Gaza.

Meanwhile, the three largest Israeli arms companies — Elbit Systems and the state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and IAI — were listed as supplying military and security goods and services worth billions of dollars to the Israeli military annually. 

Elbit Systems — the only arms company to reply to the NGO’s request for further information — rejected its concerns and argued that the company was operating lawfully, supplying “a sovereign, unsanctioned government, recognised by the international community.”

Palantir Technologies, a US artificial intelligence company that has been awarded a £330 million contract by NHS England to build the NHS Federated Data Platform to manage and analyse patient data, has been supplying AI products and services to the Israeli military and intelligence services, which are linked to Israel’s military activities in Gaza, said Amnesty.

Hikvision’s surveillance services, Corsight’s facial recognition software, and Mekorot’s management of the water infrastructure and network in the West Bank were also criticised, as was CAF support for the Jerusalem Light Rail project and HD Hyundai machinery servicing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

The companies and the Cabinet Office were contacted for comment.

Amnesty also repeated its calls on online tourism companies to stop hosting listing in unlawful Israeli settlements in the OPT, calling on states and implicated companies to immediately ban the supply to Israel of all military equipment and services. 

Famous names, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Florence Pugh, Damon Albarn and Paloma Faith, gathered for a sold-out charity concert raising funds for humanitarian efforts in Palestine at London’s Wembley Arena on Tuesday.

Normal People author Sally Rooney today confirmed that she has been unable to travel to Britain to accept a Sky Arts award for literature for her new book, as she can “no longer safely enter the UK without facing arrest” due to her expressed support for Palestine Action.