Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 2 September (HC Deb cols 37–40), whether components for F-16s transferred to Israel via the United States of America under incorporation licences have been excluded from the partial suspension of arms to Israel; and if so, why.

The Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC) state that the Government will not issue or maintain export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We have deemed that such a risk exists for items that are for use in military operations in the current conflict in Gaza and have made the decision to suspend these exports immediately. This consists of approximately 30 export licences to the Israeli military, including parts for F-16 fighter jets, as detailed in the Secretary of State for Business and Trade's Written Ministerial Statement [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-09-02/hcws64].