Britain’s public prosecutors have found Israel guilty in violation of international law in a confidential report to their government.
Alicia Kearns, Head of the MP’s foreign affairs committee, said she believed the government had concluded that Israel was not abiding by violating international humanitarian law, but that the government was hiding it.
According to British and Israeli media, a leaked recording revealed that the British government received a report from its own lawyers that Israel had violated international humanitarian law in Gaza. However, the British government has prevented this report and it has not been released.
“I am confident that the government has completed its latest review of the Gaza war in which the government has concluded that Israel is not complying with international humanitarian law that it is legally obliged to do,” Kearns said. At this juncture, it is very important for the British government to be transparent in order to maintain international law.
Disclosing this would put British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak under severe pressure because any such legal advice from public prosecutors in the UK would mean that Britain would not only have to stop selling all weapons to Israel without delay, but also stop sharing intelligence with it.
Legal experts say that if Britain does not stop arms sales to Israel despite this report, Britain itself will be guilty of violating international law, because it will be accused of aiding and abetting war crimes through the sale of weapons.
Responding to questions at an event in London, Alicia Kearns said: “The State Department has received official legal advice that Israel has broken international humanitarian law, but our government has hidden and not declared, they have not even stopped arms exports.”
Kearns said that she also strongly believes in Israel’s right to defense, but there is also a limit to the right to self-defense, it is not unlimited. He said Israel’s actions threatened not only its own but also Britain’s long-term security.
Britain’s arms exports to Israel in 2022 were 42 million euros.
At a meeting of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs in January, Kearns asked Secretary Cameron directly if “you have never seen a draft law by a State Department lawyer stating that Israel is violating international humanitarian law.”
In response, David Cameron said, “I can’t remember every paper presented to me, I do not want to answer this question, but if you are asking me if I am worried that Israel has violated international law, then yes, of course I am worried about it. That’s why I consult state department lawyers when advising on arms exports.”
