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June 2025 E-News

The world continues to be in turmoil due to the militarist rampages of political elites in a handful of countries. The nuclear-armed states, particularly Israel, India, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States, are committing genocide and war crimes, are engaging in multiplying military operations, are bombing civilians, or are bringing us to the brink of nuclear war. Military spending is higher than ever while the United Nations is facing a severe funding crisis and unprecedented threats of restructuring. Multilateral diplomacy is being overshadowed by “manifest destiny”. But people around the world are rising. From cross-border feminist interventions in India and Pakistan to transnational port blockades to prevent weapon shipments from docking to new investigations and campaigns locally and globally, the people are uniting for peace and justice. Now is the time to engage—there is no time to waste. Find out more in our latest E-News!

Upcoming disarmament meetings

Recently concluded disarmament meetings

Stop arming Israel

May 2025 marked 77 years of the Nakba in Palestine, still ongoing today with Israel’s apartheid rule and genocidal policies and practices. To mark #Nakba77, WILPF created a series of videos featuring Palestinian activists and organisers. And as Israel continues its genocide of Palestinians, so does the work to stop the transfer of weapons enabling this crime.

The United Kingdom (UK) government was challenged at the High Court in May over the export of F-35 jet parts to Israel in a case brought by Al-Haq and supported by several other civil society organisations. A few days ahead of the hearing, Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) published new figures showing that the UK government approved licenses for 127.6 million GBP of military equipment to Israel between October and December 2024. The licenses were granted after the government’s announcement of a temporary arms suspension in September 2024. Three ministers responsible for arms exports to Israel have been summoned by parliament’s committee overseeing UK exports to explain possible loopholes in the rules. (Image credit: CAAT)

Despite the recent announcement of the suspension of trade negotiations with Israel by the UK, experts have denounced the government’s contradiction in still allowing the arms trade with the country to continue. More than 800  UK lawyers signed a letter warning that “genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide occurring,” and calling on the government to use "all available means" to stop the fighting in Gaza, including reviewing trade ties with Israel and imposing sanctions and travel bans on Israeli ministers.

In Australia, independent media has reported on the country’s role in the F-35 fighter jet programme. As reported by Declassified Australia, the “update actuators” that open the bomb bay doors are supplied byRosebank Engineering in Melbourne. The “weapons adaptors” that release the bombs are supplied by Ferra Engineering in Brisbane. As Stefan Moore clarified, parts and components also fall under the scope of the Arms Trade Treaty, to which Australia is a state party. In addition, organisers are calling for the US military base in Australia, Pine Gap, to be closed down due to its intelligence sharing with Israel, which is facilitating genocide. Meanwhile, thousands of Australian doctors have signed a letter urging meaningful government action to end the genocide.

In Germany, a recent investigation by Shadow World Investigations (SWI) revealed that exports of weapons and components from Germany to Israel occurred throughout 2024.

In Canada, a investigation revealed that the “Big Five” Canadian banks have over 132 billion USD invested in companies complicit in Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and genocide. In addition, an analysis of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s 2024/25 fiscal year end report revealed more than 27 billion CAD of investments in 61 companies implicated in illegal activities in the occupied Palestinian territory. Activists are urging people to write to the Board, the banks, and Canada’s finance minister. In addition, organisers in Canada blockaded the Ontario Food Terminal to protest Canada’s complicity in genocide and starvation tactics in Palestine. 

In Norway, a majority in the Norwegian parliament's finance committee has decided that companies that can be linked to the violation of international law should be excluded from the portfolio of its 1.8 trillion USD wealth fund. The measure falls short of what was being demanded by campaigners, which was that Norway should boycott any company selling products and services in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

In Spain, the government canceled a 6.6 million EUR order for millions of bullets from an Israeli company after coalition members denounced it as a “flagrant breach” of the country’s efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza. While this decision was widely welcomed, Alejandro Pozo Marín points out that the arms relations between Israel and Spain have at least ten aspects, which include not only export and import of weapons, but also the incorporation of Israeli components into non-Israeli weapon systems, business cooperation for sales to third countries, transit or transshipment through Spanish ports and airports, collaboration between Israeli and Spanish entities, including universities, on research programmes, and more. “A comprehensive embargo is the only way to completely stop arms exports to a government accused of committing genocide,” he emphasised.

In Morocco, a Moroccan port workers’ union called on its members to boycott a ship suspected of transporting F-35 fighter jet components to Israel. The dockworkers heeded the call and authorities blocked activists from reaching the port. Dockworkers in Fos-sur-Mer, France, also refused to provide essential port services to the Nexoe Maersk ship and delayed its docking, just days before sailing to Morocco.  

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination announced that it has received two communications under its early warning and urgent action procedure related to Canada’s and the United States’ arms exports and their impacts on Palestinians. The Committee asked both Canada and the United States to respond to the allegations and provide information on the measures adopted to prevent direct or indirect arms transfers to Israel, and if there is a risk that such transfers could be used to facilitate the commission of breaches of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and of serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

De-escalating crisis and conflict between India and Pakistan

After an attack in Kashmir on 22 April 2025 that killed 26 people, dangerous rhetoric, threats, accusations, military exercises, and missile tests escalated tensions between India and Pakistan. Both countries are armed with nuclear weapons, making the escalation of conflict potentially catastrophic. As the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said, “Nuclear weapons are not a deterrent. Far from preserving stability, they introduce the risk of catastrophic escalation to any conflict.” The International Peoples’ Assembly warned, “The people of South Asia—already burdened with poverty, unemployment, environmental crises, and deepening inequalities—cannot afford the horrors of another war.”

WILPF pointed out that this escalation is not new, but is “rather another manifestation of the root causes of violence, which have been fermenting unaddressed for decades. These, together with hyper-nationalism and religious fundamentalism, are fuelling support and momentum towards a catastrophic war.” WILPF welcomed the ceasefire reached and, supporting the demands of Indian and Pakistani feminists, also urged:

1. India and Pakistan to take proactive measures to effectively stop harmful and hateful rhetoric and to call for an immediate de-escalation;
2. India and Pakistan to uphold their legal obligations in relation to international human rights and humanitarian law;
3. The international community and the states involved to work collectively and cooperatively on a pathway to sustainable peace with the full and equal participation of women;
4. The international community and India and Pakistan to develop and agree to a declaration of commitment to de-escalation, and an ongoing dialogue to develop political, civilian, and non-violent solutions within a long-term framework for peace; and
5. All states to advance the universalisation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons.

WILPF noted, “The only path to sustainable regional security is to re-initiate peace talks and dialogue, attempt to resolve long-standing tensions and seek to re-create pathways for building sustainable peace. This would enable communities in this region, with so much shared history, to thrive.” As the International Peoples’ Assembly argued, “War never brings resolution—it only multiplies misery. It diverts essential resources from healthcare, education, jobs, and welfare, toward weapons and warfare. At a time when millions in both India and Pakistan continue to suffer from hunger, lack of housing, and unemployment, the idea of war is a criminal betrayal of the needs of our people.” 

Gender and Disarmament Database: Recommendation of the month

Our recommendation of the month is the publication “The Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Children,” by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weappons (ICAN). The report describes how nuclear weapons are uniquely harmful to children, based on the experiences of children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and those living near nuclear test sites. It shares their first-hand testimonies and depictions of the toll of nuclear weapons on their lives. The report also analyses the impacts experienced by women, girls, and pregnant people and explains how the ever-present fear of nuclear war causes psychological harm to children everywhere.

The Gender and Disarmament Database, created and maintained by Reaching Critical Will, features a wide range of resources such as reports, articles, books and book chapters, policy documents, podcasts, legislation, and UN documents. The database allows the exploration of relevant resources based on their references to distinctive gender aspects in disarmament, such as gender-based violence, gender norms, or gender diversity, and different related topics or types of weapon systems. It currently contains more than 800 resources. Suggestions of new additions can be sent to disarm[at]WILPF[dot]com.   

Upcoming events

Conferences 

Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings
17–20 June 2025 | Geneva, Switzerland

Preparatory Meeting of States on the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management
23–27 June 2025 | New York, USA

Eleventh Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies
7–11 July 2025 | New York, USA

Second Session of the Open-ended Working Group on Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space
21–25 July 2025 | Geneva, Switzerland 

Eleventh Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty
25–29 August 2025 | Geneva, Switzerland 

Events

Comparative Ecologies of Conflict
2–6 June 2025 | Leiden, Netherlands

Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence
2–8 June 2025 | Global

Between Gaza and Re(Armament)
13 June 2025 | London

AI in Military Decision Making: A Dialogue on How to Enhance IHL Compliance
17 June 2025 | Hybrid

80th year since the first US nuclear weapon detonation
16 July 2025

80th year since the first US use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
6 and 9 August 2025

2024 World Conference against A & H Bombs
2–9 August 2025 | Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

Featured news

  • World Health Organisation (WHO) adopts resolution mandating an update on assessment on the health impacts of nuclear war. The resolution was adopted in the World Health Assembly by a vote of 84 in favour, 14 against, and 28 abstentions. The resolution was proposed by Samoa, Vanuatu, and the Marshall Islands. Russia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, France, and several North Atlantic Treaty Organization states voted against the resolution. 

  • Iran and the United States (US) begin nuclear talks. Kelsey Davenport writes for Arms Control Today that discussions began on a nuclear agreement, “but Trump administration officials have sent mixed messages about U.S. objectives for a deal. Specifically, it is unclear if the United States will accept an agreement that allows Iran to continue to enrich uranium, an issue that Iran says is non-negotiable.” Meanwhile, the CNN reported that Israel is preparing possible strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran reacted with a letter by its Foreign Minister to the UN Secretary-General and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General calling on the international community “to take effective preventive measures against the continuation of Israeli threats, which if unchecked, will compel Iran to take special measures in defense of our nuclear facilities and materials.”

  • US says it will put weapons in space as part of “Golden Dome” plan. US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have published a plan for the “Golden Dome” missile defence programme, which would include weapons in outer space. The Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saidthat Canada is open to join the programme, even though this would undo decades of Canadian diplomacy to prevent the weaponisation of outer space and undermine Carney’s stated commitment to increasing Canada’s independence from the United States. In related news, the Intercept reported that Elon Musk’s Space X has emerged as front-runner to win crucial parts of the Golden Dome project.

  • United Kingdom releases strategic defense review with recommendations to increase spending in nuclear weapons. The UK Strategic Defence Review (SDR) includes recommendations committing 15 billion GPB to the UK nuclear weapons programme, and plans to construct up to 12 new conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines as part of the AUKUS nuclear technology agreement with the US and Australia. The SDR also suggests that the UK should “examine the potential benefits and feasibility of enhanced UK participation in NATO’s nuclear mission”, and suggests increasing the number of fighter jets, including by purchasing nuclear capable Joint Strike Fighters (F-35A). ICAN’s executive director Hon. Melissa Parke responded to the review saying “The UK Strategic Deterrence Review, by suggesting spending more on nuclear arms, is not actively seeking to protect UK citizens. Instead, it is increasing the chances that they will be harmed by nuclear use. At a time when former UK servicemen harmed by the UK nuclear weapons programme are still seeking acknowledgement from past harms by UK nuclear weapons, this suggestion is irresponsible and reckless.” 

  • French President made more comments about deploying France’s nuclear weapons in Europe. Macron said in May he is open to discussing the potential deployment of his country's nuclear weapons elsewhere in Europe. Earlier in the year, in March, Macron had already made comments about opening a “strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent through our (nuclear) deterrence.” These comments follow several others from European leaders calling for more nuclear weapons in the continent (see coverage in the April E-News).

  • UN Technology Envoy warns about autonomous weapon systems. The UN technology envoy Amandeep Singh Gill warned that using autonomous weapons can lead to mounting losses in wars and conflicts. He said that “putting some distance between humans and [the] taking of life on the battlefield” can make certain countries and armed groups “more trigger-happy” and lower the threshold of conflict. 

  • Research finds unprecedented rise in global military expenditure. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published its annual report, finding that world military expenditure reached 2718 billion USD in 2024, an increase of 9.4 per cent in real terms from 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the cold war. SIPRI highlighted that “military spending increased in all world regions, with particularly rapid growth in both Europe and the Middle East.”

  • New global campaign on military spending is launched. In May the “10% for All Campaign” was launched in an online webinar. The initiative calls for a minimum 10 per cent reduction in military spending by all countries—and a redirection of those funds towards life-affirming priorities that build true human security. See the campaign’s website on how to participate.

  • New report finds alarming levels of civilian harm from the use of explosive weapons in 2024. According to theExplosive Weapons Monitor 2024, continued heavy bombardment in Gaza, as well as extensive use of explosive weapons in Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere, has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and the reverberating, long-term effects of people losing safe access to healthcare, education, aid, and food security. Civilian deaths from explosive weapons in Palestine represented almost two-thirds of all those reported across the globe in 2024. In the rest of the world, civilian deaths from explosive weapons rose by more than half compared to the previous year, with notable increases in Lebanon, Myanmar, Syria, and Ukraine. The report also notes that the use of explosive weapons in attacks on healthcare increased by 64 per cent from the previous year.

  • Lithuania abandons the Mine Ban Treaty. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) condemned Lithuania’s decision to withdraw from the Mine Ban Treaty, approved on 8 May by a parliamentary vote. This move marks Lithuania’s second abandonment of a humanitarian disarmament treaty in six months, following its withdrawal from the Convention on Cluster Munitions in March 2025. “Lithuania’s actions are senseless and devastating,” said Tamar Gabelnick, ICBL Director. “By reintroducing weapons that disproportionately kill and maim civilians, Lithuania is trading the lives of innocent civilians for hollow promises of security. Landmines are relics of the past that are unlikely to deter aggressors but will certainly cost Lithuanian lives for decades to come. This decision, driven by panic rather than reason, places Lithuania on the wrong side of history.” 
  • New investigations found Chinese weapons provided by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Sudan. Amnesty International published a new report revealing that sophisticated Chinese weaponry, re-exported by the UAE, has been captured in Khartoum, as well as used in Darfur in a blatant breach of the existing UN arms embargo. 
  • Investigation reveals that independent gun dealers in the US account for 83 per cent of weapons trafficked to Mexico. The investigation also found that the most dangerous types of trafficked guns originated predominantly from independent stores. 

  • New research explores the use of video games by the US military. The Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute published a report that found that the US military uses video games and gaming technologies for a host of goals, including training, recruitment, and public relations. The research highlighted that these “interactive universes generally are devoid of non-combatants, children, and moral complexity” and that they don’t acknowledge the personal costs of war to soldiers, like debilitating injuries, mental trauma, and regret. “In real life, understanding war principally through such a lens risks substituting gameplay logic and zero-sum win conditions for the more nuanced, complex ideas necessary for peace,” said the Project.

Recommended resources

William Hartung, “An Arms Race With China Won’t Make Us Safer,” Forbes, 3 June 2025 

Charlotte Akin and Sasha Imbleau, “Killer robots: a new frontier for Canada to advance WPS,” Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada, 29 May 2025 

“Addressing compliance gaps in arms transfers – is the arms trade above the law?” Geneva Academy, 28 May 2025

Leila Hennaoui, “The Global South’s challenge to nuclear colonialism,” The Loop, 27 May 2025

Ruben Stewart, “The shifting battlefield: technology, tactics, and the risk of blurring lines in warfare,” ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy, 22 May 2025 

William D. Hartung, “Donald Trump’s Golden Dome Missile Defense System And Techno-Optimism,” Forbes, 21 May 2025

David Cortright, Protest and Policy in the Iraq, Nuclear Freeze and Vietnam Peace Movements, Cambridge University Press, 19 May 2025

Anna de Courcy Wheeler and Delphine Valette, “From Casualties to Care: Implementing Age- and Gender-Sensitive Victim Assistance,” UNIDIR, 19 May 2025

“Drones Armados en Latinoamérica y el Caribe,” SEHLAC, 19 May 2025

William D. Hartung, “When a Trillion Is Not a Trillion: The Pentagon’s Budget Request,” Inkstick, 12 May 2025 

Cesar Jaramillo, “Rules for Others: Selective Outrage, Silent Complicity, and an Alarming Lack of Principled Leadership,” Project Ploughshares, 5 May 2025

Matthew Breay Bolton, Macy Hayes, and Lauren Kube, “Considering Victim Assistance and Remediation Provisions for a Treaty on Killer Robots,” Pace University International Disarmament Institute, May 2025

Liz Fekete, “Paramilitary policing against the people: Colonial continuities and the challenge from below,” Institute of Race Relations, May 2025

"How increasing global military expenditure threatens SDG 13 on Climate action," Conflict and Environment Observatory, May 2025

Ray Acheson, “Disarming deterrence and abolishing nuclear weapons,” The Loop, 29 April 2025

“A Hazard to Human Rights – Autonomous Weapons Systems and Digital Decision-Making,” Human Rights Watch and International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, 28 April 2025

Janani Rangarajan, Lydia Mikhail, and M.V. Ramana ,“Canada should extricate itself from the F-35 and more,” Canadian Dimension, 25 April 2025

Matthew Bolton, “Withdrawing from Mine Ban Treaty Would Be a Self-Inflicted Strategic Defeat for European Security,” Inkstick, 24 April 2025

Robert Muggah and Katherine Aguirre, “Latin America’s Deadliest Threat Is Made in the U.S.,” Americas Quaterly, 21 April 2025 

Anna Stavrianakis, “The Arms Trade and the Transformation of Global Order: A Revitalized Research Agenda,” Global Studies Quarterly, Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2025

Katherine Young, "Escalation of Explosive Weapons Use in Lebanon Humanitarian consequences on civilians and civilian infrastructure," and Alma Taslidzan, "Healing Amidst Ruins Fostering healthcare access in EWIPA settings," in Fragments: Explosive Weapons Monitor Quarterly, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Explosive Weapons Monitor, March 2025.