Britain shuts down Unit monitoring Gaza and Lebanon violations

Officials cautioned that shutting down the project would eliminate a vital resource for the ministry to monitor and analyze violations effectively.

Annahar

Britain shuts down Unit monitoring Gaza and Lebanon violations

Gaza. (AFP)

The Guardian newspaper reported that the British Foreign Ministry has shut down a unit responsible for monitoring potential Israeli violations of international law in Gaza, and more recently in Lebanon, as part of budget cuts and internal restructuring within the ministry.

The decision also includes halting funding for the “Conflict and Security Monitoring” project run by the “Information Resilience Center,” which maintains the largest open-source database documenting incidents in Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Lebanon. The database contains around 26,000 recorded incidents since October 7, 2023, the date of Hamas attack on Israel October 7 2023.

Hanaouiyyah town in southern Lebanon. (AFP)

This data was used to help the British government assess Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, including in decisions related to arms export licenses.

Officials warned that closing the project would deprive the ministry of a key tool for monitoring and analyzing violations, while human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, described the move as “troubling” amid ongoing serious violations of international law.

Conversely, Campaign Against Arms Trade argued that the decision could help conceal potential violations and facilitate continued arms sales to London’s allies.

No official comment was issued by the British Foreign Ministry.

Britain shuts down Unit monitoring Gaza and Lebanon violations

Britain shuts down Unit monitoring Gaza and Lebanon violations

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