Forum on the Arms Trade

This month, the Hague Group has proposed measures to hold Israel accountable under international law for its actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and urges other countries to sign on by Sept. 20, 2025. Those actions include halting the transfer of weapons and military products to Israel.

AI military systems are spreading fast:
🇺🇸 Sensor-to-shooter chains
🇩🇪 Bio-robotics & microdrones
🇹🇷 Armed quadrupeds
🇨🇳 Loitering munitions, anti-UAS lasers
But accountability is still lagging behind.

Read more in our latest #news briefing: automatedresearch.org/news/news-br...

AOAV investigation into Israeli impunity in Gaza gets global coverage - AOAV Action on Armed Violence’s investigation that 88% of Israeli military probes into alleged Gaza war crimes remain unresolved gained global media attention.

AOAV investigation into Israeli impunity in Gaza gets global coverage

aoav.org.uk/2025/aoav-in...

Focus on the arms trade: state responsibility, accountability and private actor compliance | International Bar Association A webinar presented by the IBA War Crimes Committee and supported by the IBA Human Rights Law Committee, IBA Business Crime Committee, IBA Criminal Law Committee, IBA Anti-Corruption Committee, Asia P...

Video of IBA War Crimes Committee webinar last week on law and the arms trade now available, @ibanews.bsky.social featuring @saraedill.bsky.social @jeffabramson.bsky.social @sarahleah1.bsky.social Florence Foster, Tomas Hamilton, Daniel Moegstra and Eva Khair www.ibanet.org/conference-d...

Join DAWN Tuesday, August 5, 1PM ET for an online discussion examining what the 12-day Israel-Iran war means for the region

With @daliaffahmy.bsky.social, @miraalhussein.bsky.social, @naderhashemi.bsky.social, Yousef Munayyer and @sarahleah1.bsky.social

Register: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Appreciation for the work of @iainoverton.bsky.social and Action on Armed Violence (AOAV). See aoav.org.uk/staff/iain-o... and AOAV's many recent publications on armed violence, explosive weapons, the arms trade and more aoav.org.uk

Ranking Member Shaheen, Democratic Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Safeguard the Integrity of Future Country Human Rights Reports | United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations WASHINGTON – Today,?U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Van...

www.foreign.senate.gov/press/dem/re...

UN expert appalled by US withdrawal of sanctions against companies providing weapons to Myanmar junta GENEVA – The withdrawal of sanctions against individuals and companies that have provided weapons, military supplies and other material support to the Myanmar military is a shocking turn in U.S. polic...

"This is a major step backward for international efforts to save lives by restricting the murderous junta’s access to weapons. It is unconscionable to undermine these efforts by rolling back #sanctions on #Myanmar arms dealers and junta cronies." www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

🎉🇪🇺 🎉
Great news from the EU as it significantly strengthens its measures preventing the transfer of law enforcement equipment to those who would use it for torture & other ill-treatment.
🔗: omegaresearchfoundation.org/news/europea...
#torturefreetrade

Today marks 15 years since the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force. It has saved lives, reduced harm, and upheld international norms. Yet new use and Lithuania’s withdrawal from the Convention demand renewed commitment.

👉 Read the full statement here: bit.ly/45eO9om

#BanClusterBombs

“Fifteen years on, the Convention on Cluster Munitions remains one of the most effective instruments of humanitarian disarmament. Upholding its commitments is essential...” added Gabelnick, marking 15 years since the treaty entered into force
@banclusterbombs.bsky.social icblcmc.org/our-impact/1...

The Cluster Munition Coalition is deeply concerned by confirmed reports of cluster munition use by #Thailand along the Thai–Cambodian border.

Accountability must follow ceasefire. Civilians must not bear the cost of conflict.

👉 Read the full statement here: bit.ly/4o2IY3s

Over half of US Senate Democrats back failed measures to block arms sales to Israel Number of Democrats opposing weapons transfers jumps from 15 in last vote in April to 27, with Israel's global standing continuing to nosedive as Gaza war drags on

www.timesofisrael.com/over-half-of...

and here's the recorded votes
SJ Res 34 - www.senate.gov/legislative/...
SJ Res 41
www.senate.gov/legislative/...

A record 27 Senators—most of the Democratic caucus—just voted to block new arms sales to Israel.

It’s a new high water mark for holding Israel accountable in Congress, mirroring rising voter sentiment against subsidizing and arming Israeli violations of US and international law.

Ari Tolany @cipolicy.bsky.social

Voting has now concluded.
On SJ Res 41 (rifles): 27 in favor, 70 opposed
On SJ Res 34 (bombs): 24 in favor, 73 opposed
Last votes (in April) there were 15 in favor

.@armscontrolnow.bsky.social www.armscontrol.org/issue-briefs...

The American guns turning Haiti’s gangs into an army Weapons smuggled from Florida are empowering the country’s militias and enabling them to challenge a fragile government

.@muggah.bsky.social adds that even a relatively small number of guns — around 100 — “makes a massive difference in the calibration of force and the violence that can be generated”. ig.ft.com/haiti-gangs/

Anastasia Moran on X: "The tide is turning: 120+ Members of Congress — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — have spoken out in the last week on starvation in #Gaza & the urgent need for aid to enter. This follows a warning from 100+ NGOs about mass starvation. My round up of key statements 👇" / X The tide is turning: 120+ Members of Congress — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — have spoken out in the last week on starvation in #Gaza & the urgent need for aid to enter. This follows a warning from 100+ NGOs about mass starvation. My round up of key statements 👇

In Congress, there is growing concern about starvation and the need for aid to flow into Gaza. Over on that other social network, Anastasia Moran is compiling a useful thread of such x.com/AnastasiaSMo...

Votes are expected Wednesday on US arms to #Israel, namely SJ Res 34 & 41. See more details here on US law and these proposed sales and concerns armssalesaccountabilityproject.com/wp-content/u...
and for a timeline of this administration's arms to Israel, see www.forumarmstrade.org/us-israel-tr...

A culture of impunity: accountability failures in Britain’s armed forces - AOAV This report exposes a systemic crisis of accountability within the UK Ministry of Defence, marked by secrecy, impunity, and political inertia, and calls for urgent reforms—including parliamentary over...

1/ Britain’s Ministry of Defence is facing a reckoning. From Afghanistan to Northern Ireland, allegations of war crimes and abuse have been met with secrecy and suppression—not justice. A new report from AOAV lays bare the scale of the crisis.
aoav.org.uk/2025/a-cultu...

In this article, I dig into @sarajacobs.house.gov's crucial new bill to require tracking of US weapons used in civilian harm, and to cut off arms sales to countries that use American weapons to carry out atrocity crimes.

www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releas...

Votes are expected Wednesday on US arms to #Israel, namely SJ Res 34 & 41. See more details here on US law and these proposed sales and concerns armssalesaccountabilityproject.com/wp-content/u...
and for a timeline of this administration's arms to Israel, see www.forumarmstrade.org/us-israel-tr...

Report suggests arms still flow from Canada to Israel despite denials | CBC News The government of Canada is adamant — with certain, shifting caveats — that it has not allowed arms shipments to Israel since January 2024, and yet Israeli import data and publicly available shipping ...

Report suggests arms still flow from Canada to Israel despite denials

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

International Campaign to Ban Landmines statement on the allegations of landmine use on the border between Thailand and Cambodia - ICBLCMC International Campaign to Ban Landmines - Cluster Munition Coalition - Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines expresses deep concern over recent reports of landmine casualties along the #Thailand and #Cambodia border.

Antipersonnel mines are indiscriminate and inhumane. Their use must end—permanently.

👉 Read the full statement here: bit.ly/4fdT6T8

'Not for the courts'? Al Haq, the arms trade, international law and judicial scope

I spoke with IBA News about the recent UK Court decision on arms sales to #Israel, analysing the litigation brought by Al Haq and GLAN as to allegations of war crimes and IHL violations in #Palestine. Listen to the podcast here: www.ibanet.org/al-haq-arms-...

A seat at the table for the arms trade: the DIJC and the institutionalisation of the UK's military-industrial complex - AOAV The Defence Industrial Joint Committee (DIJC) marks the institutionalisation of Britain’s military-industrial complex, where private profit, public policy, and national security are fused under the gu...

A seat at the table for the arms trade: the DIJC and the institutionalisation of the UK’s military-industrial complex

aoav.org.uk/2025/a-seat-...

US Arms to Israel - Trump This resource page is primarily a timeline of developments related to the potential or actual provision of weapons to Israel during Donald Trump's second administration (2025-2029).

Yesterday, Senator Sanders introduced a resolution of disapproval on the sale of firearms to #Israel. See our updated resource page at www.forumarmstrade.org/us-israel-tr...