Overview

• The independent two-day hearing in London closed with witnesses alleging the UK failed its obligation to prevent genocide and participated in Israeli breaches of humanitarian law.
• Former Foreign Office diplomat Mark Smith testified that officials discouraged written records and pressed him to soften assessments of civilian harm in arms export reviews.
• Tribunal chair Jeremy Corbyn said he will compile the evidence with legal experts and seek a meeting to present the report to Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
• A lawyer for Al-Haq said the Foreign Office routed alleged war crimes back to Israeli authorities and, of 413 incidents reviewed by September 2024, identified only one possible violation involving World Central Kitchen.
• Other allegations included RAF crews at Akrotiri sharing real-time intelligence with the IDF, as unions and campaigners urged broader action beyond the limited export licence revocations Lammy announced last year.