Image source, Reuters

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel. Party leader Sir Ed Davey said the deaths of British aid workers in Gaza is a disgrace, adding: “Clearly, the thought that British-made arms could have been used in strikes such as these is completely unacceptable.”

The Scottish National Party is also calling for exports to be blocked. The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn says Parliament should be recalled “without delay”, adding: “If the UK Government are unwilling to act then Parliament should force them to do so.”

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said the UK should suspend arms sales if there is a risk weapons could be used in “a serious breach of international humanitarian law”, and urged the government to publish any legal advice it’s received on such a risk.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told The Sun on Wednesday that the UK has a “very careful” arms export regime. “There are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we’ll always follow,” he said, insisting he has been clear with Israel that although it has the "right to defend itself" that it must do so "in accordance with international humanitarian law".

The government does not directly supply Israel with weapons, but does grant export licences for British companies to do so.

Image source, Reuters

Three former Supreme Court justices have joined more than 600 legal experts in calling for the UK government to end weapons sales to Israel.

The 17-page letter comes after seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Monday.

The judges said in the letter that exports must end because the UK risks breaking international law over a "plausible risk of genocide" in Gaza.

Rishi Sunak is already facing growing cross-party pressure and on Tuesday, he said the UK has a "very careful" arms licensing regime.

British sales are lower than those of other countries, including Germany and Italy, and dwarfed by the billions supplied by its largest arms supplier, the United States.

You can read the whole story here.

In the last hour, Israel's military spokesman has confirmed "in accordance with the assessment of the situation" it has halted leave for all combat units.

Posting on social media, external the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) states: “The IDF is at war and the issue of the deployment of forces is constantly reviewed according to need.”

Israel's Economy Minister Nir Barkat says that it is "nonsense" to suggest that Israel deliberately targeted aid workers.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, he was asked about José Andrés’ comments. "With all due respect, there's no way in the world that Israel would target people that come to give people aid,” he answered.

Responding to the allegation, Barkat told the BBC's Caitriona Perry: "That's nonsense. I'm sorry, give us a bit of a respect that we care about those people."

A spokesperson for Cogat - the Israeli defence ministry body in charge of co-ordinating aid deliveries to Gaza and liaising between the aid agencies and the Israeli military - insists correct information was passed to the IDF on the convoy's movements.

Image source, Getty Images

World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder José Andrés has accused Israeli forces in Gaza of targeting his aid workers"systematically, car by car".

Monday's strike which killed seven members of his staff was not a mistake, he said, repeating that Israeli forces had been told of their movements.

The aid convoy was made up of three vehicles, including two that were armoured, which clearly displayed the charity's logo. All three were hit during the strike.

Speaking to Reuters news agency on Wednesday, the Spanish-American celebrity chef said this was not a "bad luck situation where, 'oops,' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place".

In a separate interview with Israel's Channel 12 news, Andrés said "it was really a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by everybody at the IDF".

The head of the Israeli military says the strike was a grave mistake that occurred due to misidentification in very complex circumstances.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli air strike in Gaza on Monday “has damaged Israel’s reputation in Poland”, according the country’s foreign minister, Radek Sikorski.

One of the aid workers killed in that strike – Damian Sobol – was Polish, and Sikorski says the group were “just bringing food to needy people” and “were not a danger to anybody”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme from the Nato conference in Brussels, Sikorski hits back at Israel’s claim of mistaken identity, saying “they thought there was a terrorist among them, but even if there was, they seem to have been willing to sacrifice someone who was not an immediate danger”.

“These are moral hazards I don’t think are acceptable,” he says, adding that he believes there is “something wrong with their rules of engagement”.

Asked about what pressure Poland and its Nato allies will be putting on Israel, Sikorski says it’s important to remember the war “starts with the heinous Hamas attack on Israel”.

“We recognise Israel’s right to defend itself”, he says, “but we don’t recognise the right to overuse force, and nor do we recognise the right to illegally settle Palestinian land”.

Image source, WCK

Three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian died when the World Central Kitchen’s (WCK) convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse on Monday.

• John Chapman, 57, from Dorset was among the charity's security team and was said to be a former Royal Marine. In a statement released by his family via the Foreign Office, they described him as a “hero” adding “he will be missed dearly”.
• James Henderson, was from the UK and part of the relief team’s security detail. According to the Times, Henderson was due to leave Gaza on Monday.
• James Kirby, 47, was described by his family as a “genuine gentleman”. Kirby was also part of the charity's security team and was a military veteran.
• Saif Issam Abu Taha, 27, was a driver who was identified by relatives and hospital workers as the Palestinian aid worker who was killed. He was buried on Tuesday.
• Lalzawmi 'Zomi' Frankcom, 43, from Melbourne, worked for the WCK for five years and visited those in need in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Romania and Haiti.
• Damian Sobol, 36, was from the south-eastern Polish city of Przemyśl, where he was studying hospitality. He had been on aid missions in Ukraine, Morocco, Turkey and, for the past six months, Gaza.
• Jacob Flickinger, 33, was named as the US-Canadian national who was also a member of the relief team.

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

The government is coming under growing cross-party pressure to halt arms sales to Israel.

Britain does not sell a great deal of weapons or ammunition to Israel. The Campaign Against The Arms Trade says that since 2008, the UK granted arms export licenses to Israel worth only a little more than 500 million pounds.

Lord Ricketts, a former national security adviser, told the BBC that the UK should halt arms sales to Israel. Sir Alan Duncan, the former Conservative foreign minister, also said Israel was breaching international humanitarian law and continued UK arms sales could not be justified.

David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said the government should publish its current legal advice about whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law. And if there was a clear risk of a breach, then arms sales should be suspended.

The Lib Dem leader, Sir Ed Davey, believes the government should take “swift action” to halt exports now, and the SNP said parliament should be recalled so MPs can vote on ending arms sales to Israel.

But a senior government source told the BBC that an arms embargo on Israel was “not going to happen”.

US President Joe Biden is due to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, in their first call since seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

A US official said Biden will likely bring up the need for better protections for aid workers and for an increase of food shipments into Gaza, Reuters news agency reports.

The call comes after Biden said he was “outraged” by the strike and accused Israel of not doing enough to protect aid workers.

Israel said it was a "grave mistake" and promised an investigation into the incident.

Good morning and welcome back to our coverage of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, pressure is growing on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Israel after an Israeli air strike killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza.

More than 600 lawyers have signed a letter arguing that ministers risk breaching international law by continuing to allow the exports.

WCK founder Jose Andres had claimed their convoy was deliberately targeted by the Israeli military “car by car”. Israel has dismissed the claims they were targeted deliberately.

Later today, US President Joe Biden will speak with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - in their first direct contact since the seven aid workers were killed.

Our teams in London and the Middle East will be bringing you the latest updates and analysis throughout the day, so stay with us.