UK to suspend some arms sales to Israel, foreign secretary announces
The UK will suspend some arms sales to Israel, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced.
Mr Lammy said the decision follows a review of export licences for UK arms, which found there was a “clear risk” that they might be used to commit “a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
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Around 30 of 350 licences will be suspended, Mr Lammy said, stressing that “this is not a blanket ban, this is not an arms embargo”.
But the Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the decision “sends a very problematic message” to Hamas and Iran.
Mr Lammy said the government had a legal duty to review Britain’s export licences amid the war in Gaza.
Explaining his decision, he told the Commons: “It is with regret that I inform the House today the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
The suspension will include components which go into military aircraft being used in Gaza, including helicopters and drones, as well as items which facilitate ground targeting.
However, it will not include parts for multinational F-35 fighter jets – something that has concerned opposition MPs and human rights charities.
The government said doing so would have a “significant effect on the global F35 fleet with serious implications for international peace and security”.
The UK does not directly supply Israel with weapons, but does grant export licences for British companies to sell arms to the country.
Earlier in the year, under the previous Tory government, civil servants overseeing arms exports to Israel requested to “cease work immediately” over fears they could be complicit in war crimes.
David Lammy
‘Not a determination of innocence or guilt’
Mr Lammy told the Commons that after raising his own concerns while in opposition, he immediately launched a review upon taking office and “committed to sharing the review’s conclusions”.
He said the outcome does not mean that Israel has broken humanitarian law, as the UK government “have not and could not” arbitrate on that.
“This is a forward looking evaluation, not a determination of innocence or guilt, and it does not prejudge any future determinations by the competent courts,” he said.
Gaza has been largely destroyed. Pic: Reuters
He added that the decision will be kept under review and “the UK continues to support Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law”.
‘Vital questions unanswered’
The announcement drew a mixed reaction from across the House – with some saying the ban should go further and others saying there should not be one at all.
Green MP Ellie Chowns said the suspension is a “welcome and significant step, but leaves vital questions unanswered” – primarily, why so many licences are being exempt.
She said there is “no justification at all” for continuing to license F-35 fighter jets.
“There is an ongoing and clear risk and we urge the foreign secretary to look again and suspend these licences,” she said.
The Lib Dems said they would scrutinise the export licences which the government has not suspended and that they are “concerned that the decision is made solely on risk of use in Gaza and not the West Bank”.
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Protesters are calling for the immediate return of the hostages that remain in Gaza.
‘Decision we will regret’
But on the other end of the political spectrum, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson said the only people overjoyed by this decision “will be the Hamas terrorists”.
“This is a bad decision. It’s a decision which we will come to live to regret, and it’s one which unfortunately I believe has been a result of … pressure which Labour MPs have found in their seats, as a result of pro-Gaza protests,” he added.
The war was triggered when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
At least 40,691 Palestinians have been killed and 94,060 injured in Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza, the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
US President Joe Biden said today that a final hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” – but that Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure an agreement.
It adds to intense pressure on the Israeli PM, who faced a general strike today over failure to secure a hostage deal and mass protests over the weekend after the killing of six of those held captive in Gaza.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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