Our campaigning for peace and reconciliation has always rested on respect for the rule of law, a determination to uncover the truth, and a refusal to tolerate ideologies that promote hatred, war and terrorism. The fragile ceasefire in Gaza must not distract us from prosecuting war crimes thoroughly or from accelerating progress toward a two-state solution.
I usually avoid conflating the Israel–Palestine conflict with broader issues around Islamophobia and antisemitism, but recent events compel me to speak plainly. In the wake of the appalling atrocity in Sydney, it is right to express solidarity with the victims and their families. Those who stand for peace must also stand with the Jewish community, oppose antisemitism, and confront the hate-filled ideologies that fuel terrorism.
Visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories earlier this year made clear both the urgent need for peace and the fact that not everyone is working toward it. Eight weeks into the fragile Gaza ceasefire, international attention is already drawing a veil over war crimes as it focuses on peace, governance, and reconstruction. For the Netanyahu government and some western allies, talk of the future can become a rhetorical device to deflect scrutiny of past and ongoing atrocities and to avoid calls for justice.
In Parliament, ministers have used the ceasefire to present the UK as a key peacebuilder. Yet, as highlighted in Peter Oborne’s recent book, serious concerns remain about the extent of UK involvement in Israel’s policy of retribution, genocide and starvation of its people and consequent destruction of Gaza, including (but not only) through the supply of arms, intelligence, and other forms of military aid.
In September 2024 the government partially suspended arms sales to Israel, revoking roughly 30 of 350 relevant licences. That limited action left significant loopholes, notably an exemption for exports to the global F-35 programme, despite evidence the jets have bombed civilians in Gaza.
Beyond the F-35 carve-out, UK military goods continued to flow to Israel in worrying quantities. Analysis by Channel 4 FactCheck shows that in June 2025 UK munitions worth about £400,000 entered Israel— the highest monthly figure since records began three years ago. Ministers note the data does not distinguish live munitions from training equipment, but why would we supply any military material to an army accused of genocide? Regardless, the UK and Israeli governments refuse to disclose the nature of the shipments, making proper scrutiny impossible.
The UK also supplied Israel with military intelligence during the conflict. Between December 2023 and March 2025 the RAF flew over 500 surveillance missions over Gaza, officially described as hostage-recovery operations but conducted in near-total secrecy, with no footage released and no clear safeguards to prevent misuse. An Action on Armed Violence investigation found that UK intelligence flights repeatedly coincided with major Israeli assaults, including the April 2024 attack on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, among them a former marine from my part of Cornwall, James Henderson. The barrister for one of the British victims said it was “highly likely” RAF intelligence helped enable the strike; ministers denied this in the Commons.
Another overlooked dimension is the UK’s failure to prosecute citizens who’ve fought for Israeli forces and for whom there is credible evidence of their having committed war crimes. Over 50 Britons served in the IDF as ‘lone soldiers’ during the genocide, and the true scale of British involvement is likely higher. With the UK’s recognition of Palestine, legal avenues to hold such individuals accountable have strengthened, but whether the government will act is unclear.
Examples of UK complicity extend beyond arms and intelligence. The UK trained IDF soldiers on UK soil, sent its own soldiers to receive training in Israel, granted high-ranking Israeli officers special immunity to visit the country, and allowed Israeli defence companies to exhibit their ‘battle-tested’ weapons at the UK’s largest arms fair. These practices form part of a long-standing system of cooperation tracing back to the British occupation of Palestine from 1917–1948, which arguably helped shape tactics used by Israeli forces today.
There are concrete steps our government could take to address these issues. It could officially apologise for international law violations committed during the British mandate era; launch a public enquiry into possible British complicity in present Israeli war crimes; release intelligence footage from RAF surveillance missions to support evidence-gathering; and support ongoing efforts to prosecute any British citizens alleged to have committed war crimes. Having recently recognised Israel’s genocide, the Liberal Democrats could now be at the forefront of efforts to advocate such measures.
We must pressure the government not only to confront historical responsibilities but to prevent further complicity as Israel continues its near-daily war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. Ministers should not be allowed to use the ceasefire to retreat from the limited measures they have introduced, from the partial arms-export suspension to the pause on training Israeli soldiers. Such a retreat would risk breaching the UK’s obligation to withhold military support that could aid Israel’s unlawful occupation, as set out in the ICJ’s July 2024 Advisory Opinion.
With ministers eager to move on, it falls to Parliament — and especially to parties prepared to speak candidly about genocide — to expose complicity, demand accountability, and ensure our legal duties are fully honoured. Anything less risks making Britain a knowing accomplice in some of the worse crimes known to humanity.
* Andrew George is the Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives
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13 Comments
Nothing can be more important than our impartial and absolute commitment to the rule of law be it here in UK to protect those who feel vulnerable alongside upholding freedom of speech, or those caught in conflict abroad, again regardless of ethnic or religious identity, as Andrew George so eloquently argues. He is absolutely right that the Labour government’s failure to exercise impartiality and to fufil its duties under international law should be strongly challenged
These examples are only a glimpse of a far wider web of cooperation, one stretching right back to the British colonial control of Palestine from 1917-1948, when the UK’s brutal suppression of Palestinian resistance and its training of Zionist paramilitary groups laid the groundwork for the violent tactics used by Israeli forces to this day. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/27/did-british-mandate-pave-way-for-israeli-occupation
There is a very good film in many cinemas around the country at present, and streaming on Amazon Prime and the British Film Institute called Palestine 1936. This recounts the horrific way that the British occupying army treated Palestinians over a two year period – well worth watching. Petitions have been recently submitted to the UK government demanding an apology and reparations for its treatment of the Palestinians during the Mandate period. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/07/palestinians-petition-uk-legal-violations-last-century
Thank you Andrew; I’m glad that at least one of our MPs is saying what needs to be said! Keep going…more may join you. In the immortal words of John Lennon, “Happy Christmas – War Is Over” ….. but not, unfortunately. And whilst my thoughts are with you in Cornwall, and on an entirely different matter, I’m remembering David Penhaligon, who died 39 years ago serving his constituency of Truro. RIP David.
There is no ceasefire if you’re Palestinian. The genocide is continuing albeit the rate of killing has decreased.
The ethnic cleansing has been expedited and the occupation is reaching yet a new height of brutality against children. The child hostages in Israeli jails is estimated at 500. No uproar or outrage from MPs.
There is peace in Israel and therefore no more interest in resolving the injustice felt be the Palestinians.
They told us, when the hostages are back, everything will be alright…..
BBC News tonight :
“Israel’s security cabinet has approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank as the government continues its settlement expansion push.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who proposed the move alongside Defence Minister Israel Katz, said the decision was about blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law”.
Andrew, thank you for exposing so much in your disturbing article. Our concern about growing anti-semitism in Britain and shared horror at the Bondi Beach attack, all highlighted by our Leader in PMQs, should not prevent our continuing to press our government to continue and extend the actions you suggest towards trying to restrain the Netanyahu government in it’s continued defiance of international law. In particular now we should protest about that government’s new intention of supporting dozens more illegal settlements in the West Bank, where the Palestinian population continues to face harassment and attempts to drive them to leave, in
Netanyahu’s determination to frustrate all advances towards a Two-State Solution.
Very well put. As a relatively new Lib Dem member I’ve expected a far stronger outcry from our party against the continuing atrocities in Gaza and West Bank and the disregard/undermining of international law. I know several Lib Dems on the brink of leaving the party over this. Thank you Andrew George for indicating the party has not lost the plot after all.
Thank goodness for an MP who isn’t afraid to state the facts. So many have nearly / have left over this.
Thank you for your voice .. I hope more MP’s follow suit
Thank you for a very thorough article Andrew. Your reference to the attacks in Sidney were right and necessary. Islamaphobia and Antisemitism are two sides of the same coin.
Very well said Andrew, keep up the fight for a lasting peace. Although it is hard to see much signs for optimism whilst Trump, Netanyahu, Hamas and, I’m afraid, Starmer, are still in post.
I may be a couple of days late responding, but I really must say thank you to Andrew George for this article. In the current context of rising anti-semitism we can side by those Jews in the UK who oppose what the Israeli government is doing. I took part with Lib Dems in a march earlier this year and met a group of Jews at the roadside holding a banner clearly saying that Judaism opposes Zionism, so I thanked them.
Thank you, Andrew. Your deep personal commitment to truth and justice shines through your very well written and well researched article. I’m sure you represent the feelings of many MPs in the Liberal Democrat Party, and in other parties.