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Israel: Arms Trade

Asked by Tracy GilbertLabourForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled Answered 22 October 2024UIN 9378

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral statement of 2 September 2024 on Middle East Update, Official Report, column 37, whether his Department has undertaken a further review of export licenses.

Answered by Mr Hamish Falconer

Export licence applications continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The UK's robust export licensing criteria state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Following our review into Israel's compliance with IHL in Gaza, this Government has concluded that a clear risk does exist, and we have suspended certain export licences for items that could be used in the current conflict in Gaza.

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