The British government has already begun to suspend arms export licences to Israel while ministers carry out a policy review, evidence seen by the JC confirms.
While Foreign Secretary David Lammy is yet to make a final decision on whether to halt weapons sales to the Jewish state, civil servants have already stopped granting permits.
One individual involved in arms exports to Israel, who was seeking permission, received a notice in response that stated: “suspended pending policy review”.
Such a move would put Jerusalem alongside North Korea and Iran.
Asked to confirm whether the government had suspended all arms export licences for Israel, a Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: "It is vital that we uphold both our domestic and international legal obligations when it comes to arms exports.
"We are reviewing the advice available and will come to a considered decision."
The department later added: "There has been no change to our approach to export licences to Israel.
"We continue to review export licence applications on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
“It is vital that we uphold both our domestic and international legal obligations when it comes to arms exports. We are reviewing the advice regarding exports to Israel and no decision has been made."
Between October 7 and the end of May of this year, over 100 arms export licences to Israel were issued, according to government figures.
The data, released in June before the general election, revealed that 37 of those were for military purposes, while 63 were not.
At that point, no arms export licences had been rejected or revoked during Israel’s war in Gaza.
In June, however, Reuters reported that the value of permits for the sale of arms to Israel had dropped by 95 per cent to a 13-year low.
Following a recent International Court of Justice ruling that found Israel’s settlement programme to be illegal under international law, the British government is facing increasing pressure to halt arms licences.
If government lawyers conclude that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, export licences would have to be suspended to avoid the risk of the UK aiding and abetting breaches of international law.
In December, then Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch decided not to halt export licences to Israel on the grounds that there was not at present a clear risk that items exported to the IDF “might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
The government is expected to make a final announcement later this summer on whether they will officially halt sales.
Lammy said last month that he had commissioned new legal advice into Israel's compliance with international law on his first day in office.
He told Parliament: "This is an ongoing process. I pledge to update the house as soon as I can on this very, very serious matter.”
Labour MP Afzal Khan previously told the news website Middle East Eye that he was "confident" the British government will restrict arms sales to Israel.
"It's been done before," he said. "We're only three weeks into the Labour government and have already seen lots of positive developments which we had never seen under the Conservatives. We need to keep it up and respect international law."
Since 2008, the UK has licensed arms worth almost £600 million to Israel, according to an analysis of government export data by lobby group Campaign Against the Arms Trade.
These include parts for Israeli F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets.
Last year, Britain sold £18.2 million of arms to the Jewish state.
