UK government lawyers allegedly said Israel is breaking international law

The British government allegedly received legal advice from its lawyers that Israel is breaking international law, according to a leaked recording Saturday, Anadolu news agency reported.

Government’s lawyers said that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip but the government has failed to make it public, according to a recording obtained by the Observer newspaper, sister paper to the Guardian.

The Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee Alicia Kearns said at a Conservative Party fundraiser on 13 March that legal advice would mean the government has to suspend all arms sales to Israel.

Kearns later defended her comments and called for transparency. She told the Guardian that she believes the government has concluded Israel is not demonstrating a commitment to international humanitarian law, “which is the legal determination it has to make.”

The advice will put more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary David Cameron as such legal advice would mean the UK must suspend all arms sales to Israel without delay.

On the revelations, the British barrister and judge Geoffrey Nice said he would not be surprised if such advice had been given by government lawyers and called for it to be made public.

He went on to say that a warring party “becomes unlawful” if it cannot show that its actions have been proportionate.

“Countries supplying arms to Israel may now be complicit in criminal warfare. The public should be told what the advice says,” said Nice, who was the lead prosecutor at former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s trial from 2002 to 2006.

During a foreign affairs committee in January, Cameron was pressed on whether he had seen legal advice suggesting Israel had breached international law. Cameron said: “I don’t want to answer that question.”

“If you’re asking me am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law … Yes, of course I’m worried about that, and that’s why I consult the Foreign Office lawyers when giving this advice on arms exports,” he said.

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