Occupied Palestinian Territories: Genocide Risk Assessment

Steve Witherden Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber (Brendan O’Hara) for laying out so powerfully the extent to which our Government have failed in their responsibilities to assess the serious risk of genocide, and our legal obligation to act under the genocide convention. Since the latest US-brokered so-called ceasefire took effect, Israeli forces have killed more than 500 Palestinians. The genocide is far from over.

Comrades from across the House will rightly speak about accountability today, so I will focus on our complicity. I am extremely concerned by the Government’s apparent move towards unblocking the already insufficient 29 out of 350 arms licences to Israel that were suspended in September 2024. It was the Government’s own assessment that there was a serious risk of British-made weapons being used in violation of international law, yet on 12 January 2026, in an interview with The Jewish Chronicle, the Secretary of State committed to revisiting both UK-Israel trade discussions and the decision to pause arms export licences, adding that the two matters were “intrinsically linked”. Such a claim is entirely at odds with the Government’s legal obligations under the UK’s own strategic export licensing criteria and international law, including the genocide convention. In addition to the continuous supply of spare parts enabled by the F-35 carve-out, last month three new F-35s were transferred from the UK RAF station at Mildenhall to Israel. Palestinians continue to be failed by our Government, and the Government must not renege on their arms export control criteria now that Gaza is away from the front pages.

If the Government were to weaken their commitment to international law in order to secure a trade deal, that would frankly be shameful. I said in June during my Adjournment debate that this Government’s approach to export licensing was deeply troubling. Seven months after questioning the Minister’s claim about so-called third-country re-exports, I am still awaiting a response. This week I have written again to the Government about the changes to arms licences and the F-35 transfers. I sincerely hope that a reply will come more promptly.

The testimony of Mark Smith, former diplomat and policy adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, sheds light on the disturbing level of access and influence that the arms industry holds over Government decision making. That influence buys Government complicity, and makes a mockery of international law to safeguard profits. As he put it,

“the system is not designed to hold itself accountable—it is designed to protect itself at all costs.”

I once again call on the Government to suspend all arms exports to Israel.