UK position on Israel arms sales remains 'unchanged', says Lord Cameron

9 April 2024, 16:18 | Updated: 9 April 2024, 18:39

The UK's position on arms sales to Israel remains "unchanged", Lord Cameron has said.

The foreign secretary made the comment after being asked about the latest advice his government has received on whether the country has been breaching international law in Gaza.

Number 10 has been facing growing pressure to publish the legal advice it has received about the issue following the killing of seven aid workers, including three British volunteers, in an Israeli airstrike last week.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington DC alongside with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lord Cameron said: "On Israel and international humanitarian law, as required by the UK's robust arms export control regime, I have now reviewed the most recent advice about the situation in Gaza and Israeli conduct of their military campaign.

"The latest assessment leaves our position on export licences unchanged. This is consistent with the advice that I and other ministers have received and as ever we will keep the position under review."

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However, he added that the UK continues to have "grave concerns around the humanitarian access issue in Gaza, both for the period that was assessed and subsequently".

While pressure is mounting on the government to publish the legal advice it has received, Lord Cameron repeated that the government does not "publish legal advice, we don't comment on legal advice, but we act in a way that is consistent with it".

The Labour Party has demanded that the government publish the legal advice and that it suspend arms sales to Israel if the guidance finds that international law has been broken.

However, Sir Keir Starmer has resisted backing an embargo without seeing the advice first, and has faced protests for not going further in his demands.

The press conference in Washington DC came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalated his threats to carry out a ground invasion of Rafah, southern Gaza, despite the UK and US urging restraint.

Lord Cameron said that while the clear "plan A" for resolving the conflict involved a temporary pause that resulted in a ceasefire, the international community had to consider a "plan B" in the event of an invasion of Rafah.

"We have to think about what is plan B, what can humanitarian and other organisations do to make sure that if there is a conflict in Rafah that people can achieve safety, they can get food, they can get water, they can get medicine, and people are kept safe," he said.

The foreign secretary also highlighted how the UK took part in the largest international airdrop of aid into Gaza on a single day, with nine countries delivering 10 tonnes of essential supplies.

He said the UK "remains ready to play its part in getting supplies in by land, air and sea but the people of Gaza need more" - as he repeated his calls for Israel to turn its "public commitments" to flood Gaza with aid "into a reality".

In a video statement, Mr Netanyahu said there was now a date for an invasion of Rafah - but Mr Blinken said during the press conference that the US had not been made aware of any such date.

Although much of the press conference centred on the conflict in the Middle East, Lord Cameron travelled to Washington in an attempt to persuade US politicians to support a £60bn (£47bn) financial support package for Ukraine.

The former prime minister insisted he did not want to "lecture" Republicans who are continuing to block the package but warned that failing to do so would have an adverse effect on the West's security.

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Elsewhere in the conference, Lord Cameron was asked about his meeting with Donald Trump, which he said was "entirely proper" and was "in line with precedent of government ministers meeting with opposition politicians in the run-up to elections".

Asked what had been said of Mr Trump's position on Ukraine, Lord Cameron replied: "These things are entirely proper but it was a private meeting so I haven't really got anything to add… but we discussed a range of important geopolitical subjects."

(c) Sky News 2024: UK position on Israel arms sales remains 'unchanged', says Lord Cameron