Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they use to determine whether military action, such as that by Israel in Gaza, is proportionate.

The UK’s criteria for determining whether military action is proportionate are set out in the Joint Service Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict (Ministry of Defence publication available on our website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-manual-of-the-law-of-armed-conflict-amendments-to-the-text), which states that the losses resulting from a military action should not be excessive in relation to the expected military advantage.