UK MP Zarah Sultana pushes for Israel arms sales suspension over Gaza war

British lawmaker Zarah Sultana will on Monday present to parliament a bill to suspend UK arms sales to "Israel and any state that might use them for war crimes", as the death toll for the Israeli onslaught on Gaza soars.

The bill would launch an inquiry into the use of British-made arms supplied to foreign states, suspending sales where they could be used in violation of international law, according to a statement from the Labour MP for Coventry South's office released Monday.

"The British government is deeply complicit in the atrocities being inflicted on the Palestinian people: From refusing to vote for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council, to continuing to sell arms to the Israeli military. This is a moral travesty, which my bill would help to end," the statement quoted Sultana as saying.

"The bill would immediately suspend arms sales to Israel and any state that might use them for war crimes, upholding our obligations under international law and ensuring we don’t stand-by whilst children are slaughtered with weapons made on our shores."

The death toll for Israel's two month long war on Gaza surpassed 18,000 on Monday. Close to 50,000 people have been injured, while almost all of the Palestinian territory's estimated 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced from their homes.

According to research from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), the UK has licensed arms sales worth almost half a billion pounds since 2015 - including components for F-35 fighter jets.

The UK abstained on Friday from a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, while the US voted against the bill.

Both the ruling Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party have expressed steadfast support for Israel in its attacks on Gaza.

Several Labour MPs and councillors have resigned from their positions in protest.

The UK said earlier this month that it has deployed extra troops, ships and planes to the Eastern Mediterranean region "to support Israel and reinforce regional stability".

Last week, MPs submitted an Early Day Motion calling for an "immediate halt" on arms sales to Israel. Early Day Motions are rarely debated in parliament.

The bill proposed by Sultana would also suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which has been widely accused of committing war crimes in Yemen.