The British government has obtained legal advice from its lawyers that Israel is in breach of international law, according to a leaked recording on Saturday.
Government lawyers said Israel had violated international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, but the government did not publicise this.
According to the Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee Alicia Kearn, the legal advice would mean the government should suspend all arms sales to Israel. She later called for transparency, saying she believed the government had concluded that Israel had not demonstrated a commitment to international humanitarian law.
On the revelations, British lawyer and judge Geoffrey Nice called for it to be made public and said he would not be surprised if such advice was given by government lawyers and called for it to be made public.
“Countries supplying arms to Israel may now be complicit in criminal warfare. The public should be told what the advice says,” according to Nice.
The case will place even more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary David Cameron, as such legal advice means that the UK must immediately suspend all arms sales to Israel. David Cameron, for his part, when asked about Israeli involvement in the violations, said at a Foreign Affairs Committee meeting in January:
“If you’re asking me am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law… Yes, of course I’m worried about that, and that’s why I consult the Foreign Office lawyers when giving this advice on arms exports.”
Earlier, Israel was presented with genocide charges at the International Court of Justice. An interim order issued in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel-Hamas war began after a cross-border Hamas attack on 7 October that killed fewer than 1,200 Israelis. Israel then launched a massive counter-offensive that has caused the deaths of more than 32,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, as well as extensive destruction, displacement and starvation.
