Achi news desk-
The UK will stop arms sales to Israel if it is found to be breaking international law in its war against Hamas, says Oliver Dowden.
The deputy prime minister said the government has “concerns” about the way the country is behaving in Gaza.
But he insisted that, at this time, the legal advice “has not changed” and that arms sales to Tel Aviv could continue.
Dowden made his comments amid growing calls for the West to stop supplying Israel with weapons of war as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise.
On the BBC’s ‘Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg’ show, Dowden repeatedly dodged the question when asked if Israel was acting “within the law”.
He said: “I think Israel is conducting a legitimate campaign and it is doing so in a very, very difficult environment where it is facing Hamas – a terrorist organization that is hiding within its civilian population.”
He added that foreign secretary David Cameron’s advice on whether arms exports to Israel were legal “has not changed”.
Kuenssberg then asked: “So right now, you believe that Israel is acting within the law?”
Dowden replied: “The key thing is ‘is it legal, can we legally sell weapons to Israel’ and yes, that is the situation.”
Later in the interview, Kuenssberg asked him: “If the UK government receives legal advice that says Israel is breaking international law, will arms sales stop.”
Dowden said: “We will of course act in accordance with our obligations in terms of arms sales, and the way that works is legal advice, the foreign secretary comes to a judgment and he gives the that advice to the business secretary.
“If it is true that we cannot do that legally then of course we will not supply those arms.
“We hold ourselves to a high standard and quite rightly, hold the countries we export weapons to to a high standard and that’s what you would accept.”
