Israel: International Humanitarian Law

(asked on 20th March 2025) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Oral Statement of 17 March 2025 on G7, Official Report, column 41 and 46, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK is fulfilling its obligations under international humanitarian law.


Answered by
Hamish Falconer Portrait
Hamish Falconer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 1st April 2025

As soon as the Foreign Secretary took office, he ordered a review into Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which concluded that there was a clear risk that UK export items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations IHL. I also receive legal advice as appropriate on the UK's obligations. The IHL assessments continue and we are closely monitoring developments in Gaza and will keep this position under review. The UK has raised compliance with IHL with Israel at the most senior levels and has discussed it with G7 partners.

We have suspended relevant export licences to Israel for use in military operations in the Gaza conflict. We have continued to review export licences for items to Israel and assess that there are no extant licences for items that might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of IHL. This is subject to the specific measures set out before Parliament excluding exports to the global F-35 programme from the scope of the suspension.

Our longstanding position is that it is for the courts to determine whether or not a crime has been committed.

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