A leak published by the British Observer newspaper showed that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government received advice from its lawyers that Israel violated the law in its war on the Gaza Strip.

The newspaper explained that the leak includes comments made by Alicia Cairns, chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, at a fundraising event for the Conservative Party on March 13.

Cairns said: “The Foreign Office received formal legal advice that Israel had violated international humanitarian law, but the government did not announce this, nor did it stop arms exports. It imposed some very small sanctions on Israeli settlers.”

She explained that she and Foreign Secretary David Cameron "strongly believe in Israel's right to defend itself, but the right to self-defense has limits in the law, and the matter is not without limits," considering that Israel's actions put its security and the security of Britain at risk in the long term.

Yesterday, Saturday, Cairns confirmed those statements, and said, “I remain convinced that the government has completed its assessment of whether Israel shows a commitment to international humanitarian law, and that it has concluded that it does not show that commitment.”

This assessment will put the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister under intense pressure, because any such legal advice would mean that Britain must stop all arms sales to Israel with immediate effect.

Legal experts said failure to do so would risk putting Britain in breach of international law and be seen as aiding and abetting war crimes.

Counselor Charles Falconer explained that the legal assessment that “Israel” had violated international law would also prevent Britain from sharing intelligence with “Israel.” He said, “Governments committed to the rule of law cannot ignore the mounting evidence of violations, which would make those "Governments are in violation if they continue to help."