A Kerala-based garment firm is ending its long-standing contract to manufacture uniforms for the Israeli police, driven by a “moral decision” amid the Israel-Hamas war. “It is a moral decision,” Thomas Olickal, the managing director of Kannur-based Maryan Apparel, told AFP. He said that this week’s strike on a Gaza hospital and the “loss of thousands of innocent lives” in the conflict had influenced the decision.
Olickal said his firm, which has supplied around one lakh uniforms to Israel’s police force every year since 2015, will fulfill its existing commitments. However, it will not accept new orders. “We are open to resuming business with them after peace is restored,” added Olickal, who employs approximately 1,500 people at his firm.
Israelis and Palestinians have traded blame for the deadly strike on the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City. US intelligence has concluded that Israel was not responsible for the strike that killed hundreds of people. World leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have condemned the strike, saying
civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a matter of serious concern.
Contesting claims
Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas accused Israel of hitting the hospital during its massive bombing campaign, and the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has put the death toll at 471, though that number is contested. Israel’s military has blamed a misfired rocket on another group, Islamic Jihad — a version of events backed by the United States, whose intelligence community has estimated between 100 and 300 people were killed.
Hamas stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed over 1,400 people. Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack. More than 3,785 Palestinians, have been killed across Gaza in relentless Israeli bombardments in retaliation for the attacks by Hamas, according to the latest toll from its health ministry in Gaza.
Earlier this week, the company said that it also makes around 50,000 shirts and jackets for the Israeli Jail Police. “In a year we make up to one lakh shirts for Israeli policemen. We also make shirts and jackets for the Israeli Jail Police. About 30,000 to 50,000 shirts and jackets are sent for the jail police in a year,” he said. Olickal told News18 that last week after the war broke out, the company was informed by Israel that an extra supply of uniforms would be needed.
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