The closure of the unit has raised serious concerns among human rights lawyers [Getty]
The closure of a UK Foreign Office unit tasked with documenting, recording, and verifying incidents and attacks where Israel has potentially breached international law has closed, citing funding cuts.
The unit focused on Israeli activities in Gaza and, more recently, in Lebanon, reports on Thursday revealed.
The budget cuts, which follow a review by Olly Robbins, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, also mean that funding for the Conflict and Security Monitoring project run by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) will end.
The CIR centre, the only one of its kind in the UK, was responsible for collecting, verifying and analysing human rights violations in the occupied West Bank and in Israel.
It was also responsible for open-source monitoring of incidents across Israel, Palestine and Lebanon.
The closure of the unit has raised serious concerns among human rights lawyers and activists, who say the material was key in holding Israel accountable for violations of international law.
They have also raised the alarm that closing the unit comes alongside the cuts to the conflict and atrocity prevention team, which warns the UK Foreign Office over potential atrocities, including in Sudan.
One of the biggest concerns, however, remains that closure of the unit means the Foreign Office will lose access to a database containing at least 26,000 verified incidents recorded in the Middle East, dating back to October 2023, when Israel launched its deadly war on Gaza.
The database is believed to be the largest of its kind, and is crucial in monitoring patterns and informing decisions, including helping the Foreign Office decide whether arms export control licenses to Israel should remain suspended.
The team has carried out over 20 open-source investigations, including into the shooting of minors in Gaza.
The decision, which is driven by cuts to overseas aid budgets and restructuring by Robbins, has been lambasted by many.
Foreign Office criticised
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) criticised the closure of the unit, and said it would endeavour to carry out similar evidence collection and documentation in order to support the work of international courts.
“By dismantling this capability, the Foreign Office is also depriving decision-makers and investigators of access to critical evidence and data documenting alleged Israeli breaches of international law,” a statement from the organisation read.
“It is also extraordinary that a mere fortnight ago, the Foreign Secretary said respect and support for international law would be one of the linchpins of the department under her leadership, and that international law and the role of international frameworks are ‘vital to Britain’s national interests. This runs contrary to the department’s decision yesterday to effectively dismantle such linchpins and frameworks,” the ICJP added.
The organisation called on the Foreign Secretary to reinstate the unit and release legal advice received in relation to the continued supply of 91.4% of arms licenses to Israel.
Muhammad Shehada, a human rights writer and political analyst, said that the “budget cuts are merely an excuse to cover up full complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.
Investigative journalist Andy Worthington wrote in a post on X: “The Starmer government is trying to bury its complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, shutting down the Foreign Office tracking unit for Israel’s potential breaches of international humanitarian law. It means the FO will lose access to a database of 26,000 verified incidents”.
I can also reveal here that the UK Foreign Office disbanded their Gaza reconstruction team, under the fog of the Iran war
“Budget cut” is merely an excuse to cover up full complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza https://t.co/1zpngzbQZO
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) April 24, 2026
The UK director of Human Rights Watch, Yasmine Ahmed, criticised the government for carrying out the cuts at a time where Israel continues to launch attacks in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Israel.
“It makes me question the extent to which this government is complying with its obligations under the arms export criteria and its obligations under the arms trade treaty, as well as obligations that it’s meant to be discharging under the genocide convention,” she said.
Member of parliament Diane Abbott also weighed in on the matter, calling it “complicity”.
In a post on X, she wrote: “Ministers have turns a blind eye to Israeli war crimes. Starmer tried to justify them, and the government has authorised all kinds of support, including arms’ sales. This is complicity.”
