The UK has a “duty” to support Israel “in her hour of need” despite the killing of three British aid workers in Gaza, a government minister has said.
A row has been raging over whether the UK should continue to sell arms to the country after the incident last week, with questions over whether Israel has breached international law through its actions in the conflict.
Opposition parties and a raft of legal experts have demanded the government publishes the legal advice it has been given on whether sales should continue to ensure the UK is not complicit in any law-breaking activities.
But speaking to Sky News’ Breakfast with Kay Burley, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said there was “a long convention under governments of all different colours that that advice is not made public”, and there were no plans to publish it.
Follow live: Pressure builds on ministers to publish Israel legal advice
Pushed over whether the government was comfortable supporting Israel after the death of the British aid workers, the minister said: “We are very uncomfortable with what happened. We are appalled with what happened. The prime minister has spoken to the Israeli prime minister about that.
“We are also very uncomfortable about the amount of aid that’s getting into Israel, which is why we’ve been working very hard to increase that.”
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride insisted the government had ‘robust’ processes in place. Pic: PA
He added: “We should be supporting [Israel], particularly in her hour of need… however, that is not an unconditional support.
“We expect Israel not to do the kinds of things that happened with the aid workers. And we have made very clear that we are appalled by what happened there.
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