The UK will not suspend arms exports to Israel following the killing of seven aid workers in an air strike last week, the Foreign Secretary has confirmed.
Lord Cameron, former Witney MP, said he had reviewed the most recent legal advice about the situation in Gaza, and this left the UK’s position on export licences “unchanged”.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington DC, he said: “This is consistent with the advice that I and other ministers have received, and as ever we will keep the position under review.”
But, he added, the UK continued to have “grave concerns” about humanitarian access to Gaza, saying Israeli promises to “flood Gaza with aid … now need to be turned into reality”.
The Government has faced increasing pressure to suspend licences for arms exports to Israel following the deaths of three British nationals in an air strike that killed seven people working for the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen.
Lord Cameron said continuing to allow arms exports put the UK in line with other “like-minded countries” and reiterated that the UK had a “robust legal process” for assessing those licences.
He added that the Government would not publish or comment on legal advice, but would “act in a way that is consistent with it”.
Lord Cameron said: “We are a Government under the law and that’s as it should be.”
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