UK government refuses to go public with legal advice on Israeli crimes

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Observer + The Guardian
31 Mar 2024 22:19
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A leaked audio has revealed that the British government received legal advice on actual Israeli breaches of international law.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, and David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, left, walk across the Horse Guards parade for the Ceremonial Welcome by King Charles and Queen Camilla for the President of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady, Kim Keon Hee, in London, the United Kingdom, on November 21, 2023. (AP)

The British government received legal advice from its lawyers who said that "Israel" is breaking international law, according to a leaked recording.

"Israel" breached international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, lawyers told the government, however, UK authorities failed to make the statement public.

The recording was obtained by The Observer, a sister newspaper of The Guardian.

The Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Alicia Kearns, stated at a Conservative Party fundraiser on March 13 that if such legal advice is adopted, the UK government would be mandated to suspend all arms sales to "Israel".

According to The Guardian, Kearns stood by the comments she made in the leaked audio and said that she believes that the government has concluded that "Israel" is not demonstrating a commitment to international humanitarian law, "which is the legal determination it has to make."

In fact, if the UK does recognize that "Israel" is in breach of IHL and does not take the appropriate measures, Britain itself would be in breach of IHL for arming the Israeli occupation forces. The revelation will further pressure Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary David Cameron to revise their staunch support for "Israel" and its war on Gaza.

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

Labour shadow minister presses Cameron on legal advice

Earlier in March, UK Prime Minister David Cameron was pressed by the shadow UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, to publish the Foreign Office formal legal advice on whether "Israel" is breaching international humanitarian law in Gaza after two human rights groups were permitted an oral hearing to seek a judicial review of the government’s refusal to ban arms exports to "Israel".

"Given the gravity of the situation in Gaza, the degree of public and parliamentary interest and the risks to the credibility of the UK’s export controls regime, there is a compelling case to publish the government’s legal advice," Lammy wrote in a letter to Cameron, adding that licenses for arms exports should not be granted if "there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law."

It is worth mentioning that the Labour Party, the main opposition in the UK parliament, has adopted quite a similar policy on "Israel" and has even punished some of its members for criticizing the Israeli occupation.