Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) risk and (b) prevalence of (i) re-export and (ii) diversion of UK exports to Hamas.

The Department for Business and Trade works alongside other government departments to regularly assess UK export licences. This includes working with the Ministry of Defence on risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity.

The Export Control Joint Unit will not issue an export licence to any destination where to do so would be inconsistent with the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including where there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law. HMG can and does refuse applications where there is a planned re-export that is inconsistent with the Criteria, or where we assess that the goods may be diverted to an undesirable destination.