Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: A senior European Union official hinted that 'Israel' would be held accountable for violating international law in Gaza
Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida: The losses incurred by the occupation today in Khan Younis and Jabalia are an extension of a series of top-tier operations
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: The invading Israeli force is digging a trench and erecting earthen berms, amid detected activity suggesting preparations to install espionage equipment
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: An Israeli force breaches the "technical fence" in the Wazzani area
Israeli media: 4 Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Government Media Office: Starved citizens are tempted to head to American-Israeli centers and then are deliberately shot
Gaza Government Media Office: The toll at US-Israeli aid distribution centers is as follows: 110 martyred, 583 wounded, and 9 missing
Gaza Government Media Office: 8 starved civilians were killed and 61 others were injured by the gunfire of Israeli occupation forces and an American security company in Rafah
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Three martyrs, injured in Israeli drone strike on phone charging station west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Four martyrs, dozens of injured as IOF open fire on civilians near GHF facility west of Rafah, southern Gaza.

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
  • 2 Shares
3 Min Read

A leaked audio has revealed that the British government received legal advice on actual Israeli breaches of international law.

  • x
  • UK government refuses to go public with legal advice on Israeli crimes
    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."

Related News

Brazil’s Lula says 'Israel' 'premeditated genocide in Gaza'

Odeh to Al Mayadeen: Broad front needed to isolate Israeli extremism

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.

Read more: 100+ Britons in Israeli forces, illegal settlements: Declassified UK

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. 

Read more: Israeli spox Eylon Levy, suspended by Netanyahu's office, steps down

  • genocide in Gaza
  • IHL
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation forces
  • Rishi Sunak
  • Israeli war crimes
  • United Kingdom
  • international humanitarian law
  • David Cameron
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP)

Boston Consulting Group withdraws from GHF

  • Palestine
  • 3 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Poll
Palestine

Sharp decline in international perception of 'Israel', Netanyahu: Poll

Ukrainian soldiers with the anti-drone KVS G-6, manufactured by Kvertus Technology.Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Facebook
US & Canada

Shift in US priorities: Drone fuzes reallocated from Kiev to CENTCOM

US Jews accuse Trump of antisemitism despite his pro-'Israel' stance
US & Canada

US Jews accuse Trump of antisemitism despite his pro-'Israel' stance

Former US President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sept. 30, 2024 (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
US & Canada

Trump orders investigation into Biden’s autopen use, cognitive fitness

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS