BBC Question Time audience asked the panel on Thursday night why the UK is still sending arms to Israel as the conflict in the Middle East deepens.
Almost a year after the Palestinian militants Hamas killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil and took around 250 others hostage, Israel is now engaged in a bloody battle against Iranian proxies all across the region.
More than 41,000 people in Gaza have been killed over the last year, after Israel invaded the territory in effort to erase Hamas.
More than 346,000 people have also been displaced within Lebanon after Israel began to bombard the country in an effort to pursue the Hezbollah militants.
Thousands of others have tried to flee to the neighbouring country of Syria, but a key route between the countries was hit by an Israeli strike last night.
As one of Israel’s key allies on the world stage, the UK has been sending arms licences to the country in an effort to help defend itself against the Iranian regime – which does not believe Israel should exist.
But, on Question Time, audience members suggested Israel had taken self-defence too far.
The conversation around the conflict began when one audience member said it was clear “diplomacy had failed” in the region.
He continued: “I’m lost now. The UN, as we know, all these years ago was set up to try and stop any wars after the Second World War. But they seem to be powerless.”
The UN’s secretary-general Antonio Guterres has repeatedly criticised Israel’s actions in the Middle East. On Tuesday, he wrote on X: “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”
Israel then declared him a “persona non grata” and barred him from entering their country.
Back on Question Time, another audience member said: “I totally agree diplomatic efforts need to be better, but why is the UK still selling arms to Israel?”
After a flurry of applause, he added: “Obviously we have paused some of the contracts, but it’s less than a tenth of the contracts that we’ve stopped.
“Essentially, we’re aiding and abetting a war.”
The Labour government chose to stop sending around 30 of the 350 arms export licences it was sending to Israel last month, over risk of breaking international law.
Israel said it was a “shameful” move which would embolden Hamas.
A third person in the audience said: “This previous Conservative government and the Labour government have not held Israel to account at all.
“They’ve continued to say it has a right to defend itself, but not held any sort of boundaries to that whatsoever.
“And now it’s progressing to three or four countries all across the Middle East.
“So when does ‘defend yourself’ end? How many countries is Israel going to bomb before you finally stop selling arms to them, and hold them to account?”
The audience broke into another round of applause at that.
The Scottish secretary Ian Murray, who was sitting on the panel last night, suggested there should be more hope that a diplomatic solution can be reached.
“In the Middle East, it’s only talking that is going to get this resolved,” he said, adding: “The prime minister was clear at conference, we need de-escalation.”
He continued: “The rule of law is back in this country, all the licences [going to Israel] have been assessed under international law and the 30 or so that were potentially being used in the conflict of Israel-Palestine were suspended.
“So it’s done by the international law that we want to guide ourselves by at the moment.”
Tory MP Andrew Bowie said: “Israel is well within its right to defend itself and its people from further attacks in the future.”
Journalist Iain Macwhirter, who was also on the panel, said the Iranian proxies are “fighting a war of extinction with Israel” – but it was clear that Israel will not give up