Britain’s Foreign Office has shut down a specialist unit tasked with tracking possible breaches of international humanitarian law by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon following aid budget cuts.
The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) cell had been responsible for monitoring and assessing allegations of
breaches in Middle East war zones.
The move appears to contradict recent statements by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who pledged only weeks ago that respect for international law would be central to the department’s foreign policy agenda.
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The Foreign Office told The National the move was part of “an internal restructure†but the cell’s work would carry on with a different team.
“We continue to heavily invest expertise and resource into our conflict prevention and resolution work, including the monitoring of international humanitarian law in Gaza,†it added.
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