Government ‘united’ on Gaza conflict, Downing Street insists amid claims of rift

Downing Street has insisted the Government is “completely united” over the conflict in Gaza despite claims of a Cabinet split.

Divisions appeared to have emerged over the weekend with the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, taking a more strident approach to criticism of Israel than some of his colleagues, including Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.

Mr Dowden suggested on Sunday that Israel is being held to an “incredibly high standard” compared with other nations and claimed there is “a bit of relish from some people about the way in which they are pushing this case against Israel”.

But on Monday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman denied there is a split, saying Lord Cameron’s and Mr Dowden’s words are “consistent” with Rishi Sunak’s statement on Sunday.

In that statement, marking six months since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Mr Sunak said: “We continue to stand by Israel’s right to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend their security.

“But the whole of the UK is shocked by the bloodshed, and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who were bringing food to those in need.

“This terrible conflict must end. The hostages must be released. The aid – which we have been straining every sinew to deliver by land, air and sea – must be flooded in.”

The spokesman added: “The whole Government is focused on bringing this conflict to an end, getting hostages out and more aid in.”

Meanwhile, the Government continues to resist pressure from opposition parties to publish legal advice on Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law amid continuing demands to suspend arms exports to the country.

The UK’s arms exports regime would prevent the supply of weapons to Israel if there is a “clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are obviously aware of the interest in this issue and we will always look to be transparent about our decisions on these matters, whilst respecting the long-standing convention that we don’t publish legal advice on these issues.”

The Foreign Secretary is expected to comment further when he faces questions at a press conference with US counterparts later this week as part of a visit to Washington DC.

Earlier on Monday, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride also cited “long-standing convention” about publishing legal advice, but added that Israel “abides by the rule of law”.

Mr Stride stressed, however, that UK support for Israel is not “unconditional”, saying: “We expect Israel not to do the kinds of things that happened with the aid workers, and we have made it very clear that we are appalled by what happened there.”

British nationals John Chapman, 57, James “Jim” Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were among seven aid workers killed in an Israeli air strike on April 1, prompting condemnation from London and other Western capitals.

More than 1,200 lawyers and academics, including former lord chief justice Lord Woolf, and ex-Supreme Court justices Lord Collins and Lord Dyson, have signed a letter insisting there is no legal requirement to impose an arms embargo.

The UK Lawyers for Israel-organised letter comes in response to calls from more than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court justices, to suspend arms sales.

But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said arms exports should be blocked, regardless of the Government’s legal advice.

He said: “Liberal Democrats believe the Government should publish this legal advice, or at least a summary of it. But often people are raising this in the question of whether there should be an arms embargo against Israel, and Liberal Democrats think there should regardless of what the legal advice says.

“We think the case has already been made that the safety of civilians is not being taken into account anywhere near enough.”