FORMER foreign secretary David Cameron sat on advice from officials in Israel and London that said there was clear evidence of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Gaza, officials have said.
According to a report in The Guardian, a Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) adviser, who contributed to the advice, spoke out after Labour banned 30 of around 350 arms export licences on Monday due to a risk cited in a government memorandum that they could be used in breaches of IHL.
The source claimed that what was revealed in the memorandum is “similar to what was being sent to the government from at least February onwards in various drafts by Foreign Office advisers” with much of this “linked to the deteriorating humanitarian position in Gaza”.
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They added that “what has eventually been published is much less strident language”.
“The tragedy has to be considered – how many lives might have been saved if the arms export licences had been stopped then and not in September, and what the potential ripple effect might have been on how other countries would have reacted in ceasing trade,” the source said.
They continued: “The advice being sent through to the Foreign Office was clear that the breaches of IHL by Israel as the occupying power were so obvious that there was a danger of UK complicity if the licences were not withdrawn.”
The news comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (below) reacted with fury to Labour’s decision to suspend some arms sales.
Writing on Twitter/X, he said: “Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defending our common civilisation, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror … with or without British arms, Israel will win this war and secure our common future.”
However, the UK Government is still facing criticism with parts supplied for the F-35 fighter jet programme not suspended in the ban – a move which was defended by the Defence Secretary on Tuesday.
This is despite a claim from campaigners that the jet was used in an Israeli attack which killed dozens of Gaza civilians in July.
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The FCDO source told The Guardian: “Israel highlights vital lessons globally for arms companies and countries which grant export licences as part of elaborate trade deals.
“The reality is that none of these licences are granted in isolation of other business and political interests, and are enmeshed with other forms of trade technology exchanges and security equity.
“Companies also bear a responsibility to respect international humanitarian and criminal law, as do governments.
“Internally, the Foreign Office does not seem very cohesive, with disputes between humanitarian, legal and political teams, as well as with sections of the Ministry of Defence.”
A hearing in a long-running case claiming the Foreign Office acted irrationally in refusing to ban arms sales was deferred on Tuesday by a high court judge for more than a month.
Campaigners from Al-Haq and the Global Legal Action Network have said the UK acted unlawfully in excluding from the sales ban almost all UK components of the US-led F-35 fighter jet aircraft.
The National has approached David Cameron and the Foreign Office for further comment.
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