The government has suspended 30 (out of around 350) arms export licences to Israel. The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, acknowledged that the ban will affect the sale of ‘important components that go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as items that facilitate ground targeting.’

The UK restrictions do not seem a productive way of convincing Netanyahu and his more hawkish allies to end the war

Lammy’s decision to suspend these arms exports licences under the Export Control Act 2002 did not come out of the blue and is not a huge surprise.