UK government tightrope walk risks satisfying no-onepublished at 11:20 British Summer Time 3 September

11:20 BST 3 September

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The government is trying to walk a delicate tightrope on the question of arms exports to Israel.

That was clear from Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s announcement in the House of Commons yesterday. It’s even more clear from the interviews given by John Healey, the defence secretary, this morning.

On the one hand, the government wants to show that in following what it says was clear legal advice it is committed to upholding international law, that it has concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and is willing to deliver difficult messages to a close ally.

On the other hand by only suspending about 10% of the export licences, which in any case most people accept make up a minuscule part of Israel’s defence, the government wants to make clear that it is not imposing an arms embargo and that it continues to stand behind Israel’s right to self-defence.

The political risk in trying to do just about enough not to alienate people on all sides of this argument is that the government might end up not doing enough to satisfy anyone.

Listening to criticism from within the Labour movement this morning, both from those who think the government should have suspended all licences and those who think it should have suspended none, that feels like the direction things are moving in.

• We're pausing our live coverage now. For more on this story, click here

Image source, Reuters

• UK Defence Secretary John Healey told the BBC the suspension of 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel will have no "material impact" on the country's security
• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called the UK's decision "shameful" and "misguided"
• Healey defended the announcement's timing after criticism that it came on the same day as funerals for some of the six hostages recovered from Gaza on Saturday
• Lord Ricketts, former national security adviser, said the suspension was "long overdue" but it "won't change Netanyahu's mind"

• Healey also told the BBC the UK remains a "staunch ally of Israel", and UK support continues for Israel's right to self-defence
• Former PM Boris Johnson accused the government of "abandoning Israel"

We'll be pausing our live coverage after some closing analysis from our chief political correspondent, Henry Zeffman.

This page was edited by Emily Atkinson and Matt Spivey. The writers were Ian Aikman and Sofia Ferreira Santos.

Image source, UK-Med/ PA

Over to Gaza now, where the World Health Organisation has announced that it is "ahead of its targets" for polio vaccinations.

The mass campaign for vaccinations is in its third day, after being launched on Sunday, and has seen the vaccination of over 161,000 children under the age of 10, versus a projected target of 150,000.

Rik Peeperkorn, a WHO representative, says that "up until now things are going well. These humanitarian pauses, up until now, they work. We still have ten days to go."

• You can read more about the vaccine programme here

Suspension of some UK arms licences to Israel has come at the "wrong time", the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews has said.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier, Phil Rosenberg said the UK has sent the wrong signal by announcing the move soon after the bodies of six Israeli hostages were returned to Israel.

Rosenberg said the suspension was a “terrible, terrible message” to send to Israel, Hamas, and to other allies and adversaries around the world.

"It is the wrong decision taken very much at the wrong time", he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Meanwhile in Israel, more protests are planned in several parts of the country.

Demonstrations will be held in dozens of locations from 18:00 local time (16:00 BST) today, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

From 19:00 local time (17:00 BST) a "huge rally" will be held in Tel Aviv, led by the families of hostages calling on the Israeli government to secure a deal to return all captives from Gaza.

Here's a reminder of what happened yesterday:

• A general strike took place to demand the government agreed to a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas
• Airports, hospitals, banks and schools were hit with delays and closures
• Israel's labour court ruled that the strike must end by 14:30 local time (12:30 BST) yesterday, as people were ordered to head back to work
• Protesters then gathered outside Prime Minister Netanyahu's residences in Jerusalem and the town of Caesarea
• Netanyahu later said he "begged for forgiveness" after being unable to keep the six hostages whose bodies were found in Gaza alive

Across this morning, we've been tracing reaction to the UK's suspension of some arms sales to Israel.

Our colleagues Adam Fleming and Chris Mason have been discussing the decision - and the various criticisms the government is facing - over on Newscast.

• You can listen on BBC Sounds here

Yesterday's timing was bad - but no day would have been goodpublished at 09:46 British Summer Time 3 September

09:46 BST 3 September

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

Image source, Reuters

It’s a profoundly sensitive time in Israel; Britain’s decision, long in the making, came the day of funerals for some of the six Israeli hostages, including an Israeli-American, who had just come home from Gaza in body bags.

Their deaths provoked collective sorrow and anger across Israel. It led the largest trade union, Histadrut, to join forces with families of the hostages who have been taking to the streets week after week for many months now - urging Prime Minister Netanyahu to prioritise the lives of hostages ahead of his war aim to destroy Hamas.

Yesterday’s timing was bad. But no day would have been a good day in a war which is now being cast, most of all by Netanyahu and his supporters, as a binary conflict, a "for us or against us". In this existential battle, criticism of Israel’s conduct in this war is denounced as support for Hamas.

A growing chorus, even including members of Israel’s security cabinet, is now calling on Israel to agree a ceasefire to save the last remaining hostages, and use other means to deal with threats posed by Hamas.

Image source, Reuters

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says the UK's decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel is "shameful".

In a series of strongly-worded social media posts, Netanyahu says the partial ban will not impact his country's "determination".

"Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas," he adds.

"With or without British arms, Israel will win this war and secure our common future," the PM says.

Back now to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Zarah Sultana MP - who was suspended from the Labour Party for rebelling against the government - says the UK government's suspension of 30 out of 350 arms licences is "too limited".

She says the decision "appears to show the UK has finally accepted the clear and overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza".

However, she adds that "if the government is admitting that British weapons might be involved in breaking international laws, I don't understand how it can justify the remaining 320 licences, including F35 fighter jets."

She says the jets "have been dropping 2,000 bombs on Palestinians for months, and these are described by their manufacturer as the most lethal fighter jets in the world."

Is this the start of a chillier diplomatic wind from European allies?published at 09:07 British Summer Time 3 September

09:07 BST 3 September

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent, in Jerusalem

This announcement has come as no surprise to the Israeli government. But it has still dismayed many ministers.

They have said it was “disappointing” and “deeply disheartening”, and not just because it was a criticism of Israel.

The timing raised eyebrows here because the announcement was made on the same day that there were funerals taking place for some of the hostages that were killed by Hamas last week.

The Labour government clearly made the decision to make this announcement at the beginning of the parliamentary term so it could be made in a formal statement to MPs.

But the fact that it happened on the same day as those funerals, so soon after the killing of those hostages, meant a lot of questions have been raised in Israeli media about why it was done at this precise time.

UK arms exports to Israel are relatively small compared to Israel’s total - most of their arms come from the United States. So this decision is politically significant more than it is militarily.

I think the question in Israel will be: is this the start of a chillier diplomatic wind from European allies? Will the British decision be in any way replicated by other countries in the future?

Although Israel is a major weapons exporter, its military has been heavily reliant on imported aircraft, guided bombs and missiles.

The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, having helped it to build one of the most technologically sophisticated militaries in the world.

Germany is the second largest arms exporter to Israel, accounting for 30% of imports between 2019 and 2023, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Italy accounts for 0.9% of Israeli imports between 2019 and 2023, and their arms exports have reportedly included helicopters and naval artillery.

The UK's exports of military goods to Israel are "relatively small", according to the UK government, amounting to only £42m ($53m) in 2022.

• More on this here

What about the jets that bomb Gazans, host Nick Robinson asks. Why aren't these included in the ban?

There is a "carve out" for F35 planes for two reasons, Healy repeats - having said similar to BBC Breakfast earlier.

There's no way to know which country UK-made parts are going to, and suspending their sale would "undermine a global supply chain".

The planes are "absolutely vital" to the security of the UK and its allies, says Healy.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

The UK has been criticised for announcing its partial ban of arms exports to Israel shortly after the bodies of six hostages were returned to Israel.

Healey tells Today that the timing was due to Parliament returning this week - giving the foreign secretary the first opportunity to make the announcement.

“We’re in the middle of a bloody, brutal conflict”, he says. “No day is a good day.”

Defence Secretary John Healey is up now on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Responding to former PM Boris Johnson's suggestion the UK government is "abandoning Israel", Healey again says that the government has "a duty to the rule of law".

This "is not a decision about pleasing any side", he adds.

He says he explained this to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant yesterday, also telling him the UK "stands strong with Israel" and will support its defence if it comes under direct attack.

Will this decision have a material impact on Israel's ability to continue its war, asks host Nick Robinson.

Healey points to the foreign secretary's words from yesterday, saying the suspension "won't have a material impact" on Israel's security.

The UK’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel is "long overdue", former national security adviser Lord Peter Ricketts says.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Ricketts says the suspension is about the integrity of the arms export system.

He adds the government has “thoroughly” looked into the issue and concluded that certain weapons could be used in a way that breaches international law.

"I think their move is about the integrity of the arms export system, rather than any hope that it might change Netanyahu's mind, which it clearly won't."

Image source, Reuters

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

The chief rabbi has said the government's decision to suspend some arms licences to Israel "beggars belief".

Sir Ephraim Mirvis posted on social media yesterday evening, saying the announcement "feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law".

"Sadly, this announcement will serve to encourage our shared enemies," he said.

The chief rabbi, who strongly criticised the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism, added: "It [is] beggars belief that the British government, a close strategic ally of Israel, has announced a partial suspension of arms licences, at a time when Israel" is fighting a war.

He criticised the timing of the announcement on a second front, which he said came as "six hostages murdered in cold blood by cruel terrorists were being buried by their families".

Pushed on criticism from Amnesty International - which described the announcement as “gesture politics” - Healey says the decision was about “following the rule of law”.

He says the only way to end the conflict is an immediate ceasefire, which the government is arguing for.

Responding to criticisms of the announcement’s timing – coming on the same day as the funerals of six Israeli hostages killed by Hamas – Healey says it was “agonising” to hear about these hostages’ deaths.

But, he adds, the timing was “driven by the fact that this was a legal process”.

The foreign secretary needs to report the findings of the review to Parliament at the first opportunity, he says.

He reiterates the UK’s "absolute determination to stand with Israel” and its right to self-defence.

“We remain a staunch ally of Israel,” he says.

Asked why components for F35 jets are not included in the suspension, Healey says there was a "deliberate carve out" for these jets.

He says around 1,000 jets are used by 20 countries around the world, not just in the UK and Israel.

"The UK makes important, critical components for all those jets that go into a global pool," the defence secretary says.

He adds that, because of this, it's "hard to distinguish" which components would go into Israeli jets.

"This is a global supply chain, with the UK a vital part of that supply chain. We are not prepared to put at risk the operation of fighter jets that are central to our own UK security, that of our allies and of Nato."

Defence Secretary John Healey is speaking to BBC Breakfast now.

He says arms licences have been suspended for parts which are being used “for offensive purposes” in Gaza.

“This is a government that has a duty to the law,” he says.

Asked about Labour backbenchers who want a complete ban on arms sales to Israel, Healey says he does not accept this demand, and that the situation in Gaza requires the government to review the licences involved.

Defence Secretary John Healey is set to speak to the BBC shortly.

He'll be discussing the UK decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel, which is receiving criticism from some Israeli and UK politicians.

He'll be on BBC Breakfast just after 07:30 BST, before joining BBC Radio 4's Today programme at 08:10.

You can follow by clicking the watch live button at the top of this page.