NEW DELHI: Rishi Sunak is facing growing pressure over UK arms sales to Israel, after the killing of seven aid workers by an Israeli strike in Gaza.
The Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party (SNP) and a former UK national security adviser are calling for sales to be suspended now.

The prime minister says the UK has a "very careful" arms licensing regime.
Speaking to the Sun, he called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strike, but stopped short of saying arms sales should end.

He added that the UK had been "consistently clear" with Israel that it must follow international humanitarian law.
Describing the deaths as "an awful tragedy," he said the UK wanted to see "a dramatic increase in the amount of aid getting into Gaza".

Britons John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby, who were all military veterans, were working alongside food aid charity World Central Kitchen as security and safety advisors when their convoy was attacked from the air on Monday.
The other individuals killed in the strike were aid workers Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom, an Australian national, American-Canadian dual citizen Jacob Flickinger, Polish national Damian Sobol and Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack as unintended and "tragic", promising an independent investigation.

Speaking to the BBC earlier, former national security advisor Lord Ricketts called for the UK to halt arms sales, saying it would send a "powerful message" and encourage a similar debate in the United States.
"I think there's abundant evidence now that Israel hasn't been taking enough care to fulfil its obligations on the safety of civilians," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Arms export licences, which are granted by the business department, cannot be issued if there is a clear risk the weapons could be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

The UK has licenced arms to Israel worth over £574m since 2008, when official country-level data was made available, according to pressure group Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

Last week, a cross-party group of more than 130 MPs and peers wrote to Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron calling for an immediate suspension of export licenses for arms sales to Israel.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military operations that began after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.
About 130 of the hostages remain in captivity, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.

More than 32,916 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.