Oliver Dowden has said the foreign secretary’s advice on the UK’s arms exports to Israel remains unchanged as the government faces pressure to halt the sales.
Speaking to broadcasters on Sunday morning, the deputy prime minister said the UK will not be sending arms to Israel if it can’t legally do so.
He said it’s “right that we hold Israel to a high standard.”
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said the UK remains supportive of Israel’s right to self-defence, but noted the support is “not unconditional.”
It came after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticised the government for not denouncing the idea of banning arms sales to Israel, saying it will only lead to victory for the Hamas terrorist organisation.
By Sunday, the Israel-Hamas war, which began after a series of Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, has lasted for six months.
Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 Israelis during the attacks, raped victims, and took some 240 hostages, many of whom remain hostage in Gaza. According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza, over 33,000 Palestinians have died in the ensuing war, although that number does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
The business secretary, who is responsible for export-control decisions, takes advice from the foreign secretary, who in turn takes advice on a range of issues including export destinations’ compliance with international law.
Mr. Dowden told broadcasters on Sunday that Lord Cameron has not changed his advice on arms exports to Israel.
Asked whether Israel is acting within the law, Mr. Dowden told the BBC’s “Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg” programme: “I think that Israel is conducting a legitimate campaign and it is doing so in a very, very difficult environment, where it is facing Hamas—a terrorist organisation that hides amongst its civilian population.”
Asked whether arms sales will stop if the UK government is advised that Israel is in breach of the international law, he said the UK will “of course act in accordance with our obligations under law in respect of arms sales.”
Speaking to Sky News’ “Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips” programme, Mr. Dowden said Israel has “made big mistakes” during the war, adding, “We should hold them to account for that, but we are holding them to a very high standard.”
The deputy prime minister said the UK continues to “engage with Israel across a range of issues such as deconfliction,” noting, “We are holding Israel to standards that we wouldn’t remotely expect of the terrorists that they are facing.”
Marking the sixth-month anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday that the UK “continue[s] to stand by Israel’s right to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend their security.”
The statement added: “But the whole of the UK is shocked by the bloodshed, and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who were bringing food to those in need.”
The foreign secretary said Israel’s killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three former British servicemen, is “tragic and avoidable,” and it “must never happen again.”
He said the UK’s support for Israel in the ongoing war is based on four “vital principles,” including supporting Israeli hostages and their families, pushing to get aid to civilians in Gaza, exercising “leadership” in the region and at the UN to find solutions, and supporting Israel’s right to self-defense.
“Of course, our backing is not unconditional: we expect such a proud and successful democracy to abide by international humanitarian law, even when challenged in this way,” he said.
The foreign secretary said Israel has been prepared to make a deal with Hamas for a pause in fighting, but Hamas has so far said no.
The former prime minister said Israel must “must explain what happened, and bring to justice those responsible for what must surely have been a hideous mistake,” but the UK “should not forget the essential moral difference between Hamas and Israel.”
Referring to NATO strikes on Libya and the UK’s arms deals with Saudi Arabia during the war in Yemen, Mr. Johnson said banning arms sales to Israel would be hypocritical.
He also said the implication is that Hamas will survive, rebuild, and launch more attacks.
Labour continued to call on the government to publish the legal advice it has received.
Also speaking to Sky News’ “Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips” programme, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he has “serious concerns about a breach in international humanitarian law.”
“And it’s for that reason that I’m asking David Cameron to be very clear, and to publish the legal advice, because this is serious for the British people, because it would mean that we are complicit in that action,” he said.
Calling for a ceasefire, Mr. Lammy said he believes a ceasefire would mean more hostages will be released and more aid will get into Gaza, noting, “but to get a ceasefire, both sides have to lay down their arms.”
