Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if the UK Government will launch an investigation to determine whether British-made weapons have been used in acts that breach human rights in (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and if he will suspend arms sales to the region while such an investigation takes place.

The Government takes its defence export responsibilities extremely seriously and operates some of the most robust export controls in the world. All applications for export licences are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard and we are able to suspend, refuse or revoke licences as circumstances required. We can and do respond quickly and flexibly to changing international circumstances. The Government continues to monitor closely the situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.