Downing Street rejects David Lammy’s claim that Israel has breached international law

Later in the debate, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the government to ban arms sales to Israel and asked Lammy to say that Israel’s aid restrictions were “illegal and in breach of international law”, along with “the continued bombardment of Gaza and the bombardment of the West Bank”.

The foreign secretary responded by saying: “I did say in my contribution that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law”, adding that the government’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel in September last year “which was largely because of that breach”.

However, on Tuesday, Downing Street denied that there had been a shift in the government’s position to the one outlined by the foreign secretary and said that Israel’s actions risked breaching international law, not that they had done so.

“Our position remains that Israel's actions in Gaza are a clear risk of reaching international humanitarian law, and we continue to call on the government of Israel to abide by its international obligations when it comes to humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza.”

It will be up to courts to make those judgments”

Referencing the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, Downing Street said: “We do not want to see a return to fighting, and the reported civilian casualties resulting from these strikes are appalling ... our priority is urging all parties to return urgently to dialogue to ensure the ceasefire agreement is implemented in full and that the remaining hostages are released.”

The spokesperson confirmed the government’s longstanding policy that they would not pre-judge claims of breaches of international law before international courts do.

“The government's not an international court, and therefore it will be up to courts to make those judgments”, they added.

No 10 refused to say whether Lammy had misspoken in Parliament, but told reporters that “the foreign secretary's position remains that Israel's actions in Gaza are at clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law”.

During the morning broadcast round Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said despite disagreement over the conduct of the war in Gaza, the government would not seek to impose an arms embargo.

He told Times Radio: “We'll always stick up for Israel's right to defend itself but we don't believe that the cutting off of power and essential supplies to a whole population is justified and we never want to see that happen.”

He later added: “We have arms trade with Israel and you know that's not going to result in an embargo but you know we've said very publicly what we think of that kind of idea of collective punishment. We don't want to see that happening.”

Suella Braverman, former home secretary and chair of Conservative Friends of Israel told the JC that that Lammy "must come before the House and apologise."

"Israel has every right to defend herself against the brutal Hamas terrorists”, she added.

In September last year, Lammy announced a limited suspension of some arms sale licenses to Israel over concerns regarding potential breaches of international law.

Although he insisted that the decision was not a full arms embargo, he told MPs at the time that the government “could not arbitrate on whether or not Israel has breached international humanitarian law”, but that it could not grant an arms export license “if it determines there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.

The JC has asked the Foreign Office whether the foreign secretary intends to change the parliamentary record regarding his claims.