310 Civil Servants’ “longstanding concern” with UK Gaza policy
The Letter
On 16 May 2025, 310 staff of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) wrote to the UK Foreign Secretary in a letter marked OFFICIAL SENSITIVE saying, among other things:
In July 2024, staff expressed concern about Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law and potential UK Government complicity. In the intervening period, the reality of Israel’s disregard for international law has become more stark. In the last few weeks alone, we have seen video evidence of the killing by Israel forces of 15 humanitarian aid workers (Palestinian Red Crescent, UNRWA and World Central Kitchen) in an Israel drone attack on a humanitarian aid ship; the suspension of all aid to the Strip leading to the starvation of at least 20 Palestinian children while 70 per cent of the population is estimated to be experiencing catastrophic hunger leading many experts and humanitarian organisations to accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. In addition, last month also saw the unprecedented detention and deportation of MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed.
It is unclear what further action the UK is considering to bring an end to the conflict and, vitally, to promote and ensure compliance with international law. The UK Government position has contributed to the erosion of global norms, including by facilitating the visit of Israel’s Foreign Minster, Gideon Sa’ar, on April 15 2025, and our continued sale of weapons to Israel,(1) despite concerns about violations of international law.
The West Bank has also seen a steep rise in settler and IDF-perpetrated acts of violence(2). The strategic aim of violence perpetrated by setters and the IDF in the West Bank has been thrown into stark relief by Louis Theroux’s BBC documentary The Settlers, giving illegal Israeli residents of the West Bank a platform to set out their ambitions for ethnic cleansing and the legal transfer of an occupied population. This has been clear to those working on and in the region for many years. We urge the UK Government to bring real sanctions against settlers illegally residing in occupied territory and the government that supports them.
Last year, we made five recommendations to ensure our approach to the conflict achieved your stated objective of a ceasefire, a two-state solution and more broadly, better informed and more efficient policy making by this Department. These included:
1. Upholding international law by promoting accountability at the ICC and implementing the judgements of the ICJ;
2. Using all available levers to prevent Israel from further breaching international law which could include a complete suspension of arms sales, targeted sanctions, ending the sharing of intelligence and military assets, and the suspension of the UK-Israel FTA;
3. An evidence-based review of our approach to the conflict;
4. Publishing legal advice, as you requested while in Opposition;
5. Establishing an FCDO challenge mechanism to encourage a “speak up” cultureWe write to urgently ask you to consider with utmost seriousness those recommendations and the continued impact on the UK’s reputation should we maintain our existing relationship with Israel while they make clear in word and deed their intention to disregard international law.
(1) UK sent Israel thousands of military items despite export ban, study finds | UK news | The Guardian
(2) As reported by BE Tel Aviv on 5 May in DIPTEL 2512504
The full text of the letter can be found on the Novara Media website.
The Reply
The BBC reports that this was at least the fourth such document sent by concerned civil servants to ministers and Foreign Office managers since late 2023. A reply to the latest letter was sent from Sir Oliver Robbins and Nick Dyer, the two most senior civil servants in the Foreign Office, who are reported to have they told the signatories:
[I]f your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound your ultimate recourse is to resign from the Civil Service. This is an honourable course.
The response was met with “outrage” according to one official who signed the letter.
“[There is] frustration and a deep sense of disappointment that the space for challenge is being further shut down,” said the official, speaking to the BBC on condition of anonymity.
It should be noted that in September 2024, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of around 30 arms export licenses to Israel, out of a total of about 350, citing a “clear risk” they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
This was followed a few weeks later arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant as well as the military commander of Hamas issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Israel’s government has consistently rejected allegations it has committed war crimes in Gaza, calling the ICC’s decision “antisemitic”, while the US Department of State announced sanctions against four ICC judges for “transgressions against the United States and Israel”.