Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to Q639 of the oral evidence given by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 January 2024, HC 325, and to paragraph 50 of the summary grounds of the Secretary of State in the case of The King (on the application of Al-Haq) v. Secretary of State for Business and Trade, AC-2023-LON-003634, for what reason the Secretary of State said to the Committee that his role was not to make a legal adjudication on whether Israel had breached international humanitarian law.

We regularly review advice about Israel's capability and commitment to International Humanitarian Law and act in accordance with that advice, including in relation to arms exports. The Foreign Secretary's role is to advise the Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on certain Criteria in the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including whether there is a clear risk that controlled goods exported under a licence might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of IHL, and it is for the Secretary of State at DBT to act in light of that advice.