While the United Kingdom continues to support Israel in its occupation of Gaza, personnel in the Foreign Ministry, who are said to have reached 300, have officially conveyed concerns to the ministers, demanding a change of the course.
According to the news in Declassified, foreign affairs personnel are questioning the actions and policies of the ministers regarding Gaza and want to see the legal advice on which this is based. Some lawmakers in parliament also wanted to see these 'legal recommendations', but despite the calls, the government had refused to publish them so far.
Instead of directly responding to these concerns, Secretary of State David Cameron sent the State Department's political director Christian Turner to hold a meeting with a small group expressing concern about London's policy in Gaza and violations of international humanitarian law, according to the report.
The meeting, which took place face-to-face at the department's head office on King Charles Street, was not recorded and participants were not allowed to take notes.
According to Declassified, “This meeting was part of an effort to silence the legitimate concerns of a number of officials from across the ministry, including possible individual responsibilities of officers working on issues related to Israel and Palestine.'
According to the report, some ministry personnel are turning down their demands for work on the crisis due to the 'concern of being a partner in war crimes'.
“The UK wants the conflicts in Gaza to end as soon as possible and we continue to call for respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied when applying for comment.
Saying that Israel is "committed to acting within the framework of international humanitarian law", the spokesperson noted that Tel Aviv is "in a position to do this", but that "they are also deeply concerned about its effects on the civilian population in Gaza".