Three former supreme court justices have joined more than 600 members of the British legal profession in calling for the government to halt arms sales to Israel, saying it could make Britain complicit in genocide in Gaza, Reuters reports.

Echoing the growing number of opposition politicians who have called for a halt to British arms sales, the three justices joined other barristers, former judges and legal academics in urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to change policy.

“The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of International Humanitarian Law,” the judges and barristers said in a 17-page letter.

“Customary international law recognises the concept of ‘aiding and assisting’ an international wrongful act,” they added.

One of the former justices, Jonathan Sumption, told BBC Radio that he was concerned the British government had lost sight of its need to prevent genocide.