Foreign Office cuts have closed a specialised unit tasked with monitoring potential breaches of international law by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, according to officials familiar with the decision.
The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) cell within the Foreign Office has been shut down following a review by Olly Robbins, the department’s former permanent secretary who was dismissed last week by the prime minister over the Peter Mandelson vetting controversy. The closure also means the end of funding for the Conflict and Security Monitoring Project, run by the independent Centre for Information Resilience (CIR).
The CIR had been carrying out the world’s largest open-source monitoring of incidents across Israel, Palestine and Lebanon for the Foreign Office. It was the only programme in the UK that collected, verified and analysed human rights and conflict incidents in Israel and the occupied territories. Officials have warned that the Foreign Office will now lose access to a database containing 26,000 verified incidents in the Middle East.
Loss of a vital monitoring tool
The database, which holds information on incidents stretching back to 7 October 2023 – the day Hamas launched the attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and led to the abduction of 200 Israelis – is thought to be the largest of its kind in the world. It is used to monitor trends and make analyses possible, particularly for Foreign Office teams deciding whether arms export control licences to Israel should remain suspended. The data also helps officials conclude whether international humanitarian law concerns, such as proportionality, are being breached.
Beyond Whitehall, the CIR’s work has proved essential for the Metropolitan Police. It is understood the head of the war crimes team in the counter-terrorism unit urged the Foreign Office to recognise how important the CIR’s work was in helping the Met consider war crimes allegations. The Met’s War Crimes Team, which has a national responsibility for enquiries into war crimes and core international crimes, has been gathering evidence in relation to alleged war crimes in Ukraine and has shared referrals with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The team has also reviewed referrals related to the Israel-Gaza conflict and shared information with the ICC.
As well as maintaining the database, the CIR has conducted more than 20 open-source investigations, including into the potentially unlawful shooting of minors in Gaza. The UK embassies in Tel Aviv, Beirut and Damascus, as well as the consulate in Jerusalem, have turned to the CIR for rapid assessments of large incidents. The Israel-Gaza conflict map the centre provided has had tens of thousands of views, once more than 25,000 views in a single day.
The CIR’s expertise extends beyond the Middle East, with projects in West Africa, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan and Ethiopia focusing on human rights violations, war crimes and disinformation. However, the closure of the IHL cell is part of a wider cut in funding to the Foreign Office’s conflict and atrocity prevention team, which has been critical in warning the department of potential atrocities, including in Sudan. The cuts appear to be driven by the decision to reduce the overseas aid budget to 0.3% of gross national income, despite the government maintaining a target to return to 0.7% when resources allow. The UK’s overseas aid spending is now projected to fall to its lowest level since 2007.
The decision to close the IHL cell comes only a fortnight after the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, in her major annual foreign policy speech at Mansion House, said respect and support for international law would be one of the linchpins of the department under her leadership. Cooper argued that “the role that rules-based frameworks play is vital, and respect for the rule of law is a core British value that supports our national interest”. She has previously described Israel’s Gaza offensive as “inhumane, incomprehensible, and unjustifiable” at the UN Security Council and confirmed the UK’s recognition of the state of Palestine.
The review that precipitated the closure was conducted by Olly Robbins, whose dismissal has been linked to the vetting process for Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to Washington. Robbins testified before the Foreign Affairs Committee that officials had debated withholding Mandelson’s vetting documents from parliament and that there was “constant pressure” to get Mandelson into the post. Cat Little, the most senior civil servant at the Cabinet Office, later said she held “multiple discussions” with Robbins over the release of the Mandelson files and disputed some of his claims.
Sharp criticism from rights groups
Yasmine Ahmed, the UK director of Human Rights Watch, said it was damning that the government was choosing to cut the unit at a time when there were “continued significant violations of international law and atrocity crimes being committed across the world”. She questioned the extent to which the government is complying with its obligations under the arms export criteria, the arms trade treaty and the genocide convention. Human Rights Watch has called for an immediate halt to UK arms transfers to Israel, citing a clear risk that UK-licensed equipment could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law. The organisation has also noted that the UK produces 15% of the parts for F-35 fighter jets used in Gaza.
Katie Fallon, the advocacy manager at Campaign Against Arms Trade, said closing the IHL cell would protect ministers and senior Foreign Office officials “who know that they have been manipulating the data on potential violations of IHL, beyond any logical interpretation, to obscure unimaginable violations and crimes committed against the most vulnerable people in conflict and sustain arms sales at any cost”. She added: “The timing of this closure is notable. As Olly Robbins explained to a parliamentary committee this week, the civil service is under pressure to give the government the answers that they want. Nowhere is this more clear than on ensuring arms sales to ‘allies’ continue, despite the risks of war crimes.”
The Campaign Against Arms Trade has pointed out that despite a partial suspension of 30 out of 300 arms licences to Israel in autumn 2024, the UK government continues to supply arms, including components for F-35 combat aircraft. Oxfam has noted that the UK government has issued around 100 new licences for arms sales to Israel since the recent escalation of conflict. The Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair has also been a point of contention, with calls for Israel to be banned from participating.
The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
