Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 5891 on Israel and Occupied Territories: Arms Trade, when his Department plans to publish an update to export licensing statistics for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In 2022, we granted 114 Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) for military goods valued at up to £42 million to Israel. The Department for Business and Trade, as the Licensing Authority, produce export licensing statistics for all countries. These are issued quarterly and the next set of statistics will be released in January.

Every export licence application is considered on a case by case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. As part of these assessments we take into account the nature of the equipment to be exported, the end user/s, and how the equipment is likely to be used. We also take into account our international commitments and obligations, which include the International Arms Trade Treaty. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard. We are able to suspend, refuse or revoke licences as circumstances require.