Attorney general says UK must be sure arms sold to Israel not used illegally
The British government's attorney general has made a significant intervention in the ongoing review of whether to ban arms sales to Israel.
Richard Hermer told Foreign Office officials they need to be certain that weapons have not been used to breach international humanitarian law if they will continue to be sold to Israel, the Guardian reported on Sunday.
Hermer, an experienced lawyer who has often spoken out against Israeli breaches of international law, was appointed attorney general by the new Labour government just days after its election win in early July.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he commissioned new legal advice into Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law in its war on Gaza on his first day in office.
In late July, sources told MEE that the government planned to introduce restrictions to arms sales on the final day of parliament before summer recess.
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The week after, reports in the Times and Guardian suggested the decision was delayed as the government identified which UK-made weapons may have been used in Israel's war on Gaza and those used defensively, a distinction Lammy drew in comments to parliament.
The government reportedly lacked confidence that it would be able to defend the distinction between offensive and defensive weaponry in court.
According to the Guardian, Hermer has told Foreign Office officials they need to be certain which weapons have been used to breach international humanitarian law - and Prime Minister Keir Starmer is taking an active role in the decision-making.
A Foreign Office spokesperson told the Guardian that the review into whether Israel is complying with international humanitarian law is ongoing, in response to a request for comment.
This latest news comes less than two weeks after diplomat Mark Smith resigned over concerns that the government is complicit in Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Smith was working as a counterterrorism official in the British embassy in Dublin, but has said he was formerly the lead author of the central assessment governing the legality of UK arms sales in the Foreign Office's Middle East and North Africa directorate.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government is seemingly annoyed by British foreign policy changes since Labour entered government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to meet Lammy during his trip to Israel earlier this month - reportedly because of Britain’s recent decision to withdraw its objection to the International Criminal Court deciding on issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
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