§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what investigations he has undertaken to establish whether(a) components manufactured in the UK have and (b) equipment manufactured in the UK has been used by the Israeli authorities in (i) their military strike in Syria, (ii) incursions into refugee camps in Gaza and (iii) other activities in the Palestinian areas since the resignation of Abu Mazen. [134657]
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§ Mr. MacShaneWe have not carried out specific investigations following these incidents but we routinely tour the Occupied Territories, often in difficult and dangerous conditions, to assess the situation on the ground and the activities of the Israel Defence Forces, including the equipment they use.
However, when considering licence applications for the export of controlled goods we make risk assessments at the licensing stage, including assessments about the proposed end-users and potential end-use of the proposed export. We would not issue a licence unless we were fully satisfied that the equipment would not be misused. Many UK exports have been components for pieces of technology embedded in other systems and are therefore not very visible. The UK has not sold main equipment such as tanks, aircraft, warships or artillery to Israel since May 1997.
Since the outbreak of the violence in the Occupied Territories in September 2000, we have taken account of Israeli military tactics in our licensing decisions. The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria clearly sets out our commitment to take account of the risk that exports might be used for either internal repression, prolonging an armed conflict or affecting regional stability.