Oliver Dowden, British Deputy Prime Minister (European Archives)

British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said that Israel had committed "major mistakes" in its war on the Gaza Strip, denying that his country had given it a "blank cheque", but at the same time he stressed that the position regarding supplying weapons to Tel Aviv had not changed.

Dowden said - during an interview with Sky News on Sunday - that London deals with Israel on the basis of very high standards and is holding “firm” discussions with it, especially in the wake of the Israeli raid that killed 7 humanitarian workers in Gaza last week, including 3 hold British citizenship.

But the British official added that "the Jewish community has been living in a state of existential threat since the Hamas attacks (last October 7)," and that everyone must understand the shock they are still experiencing, as he put it.

Dowden refused to disclose the content of legal advice received by the British government regarding its arms supplies to Israel, and said that this legal opinion would remain confidential.

In another interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Dawaden said that the legal opinion regarding the export of weapons to Israel has not changed, stressing that Tel Aviv is waging a legitimate war, as he put it.

But he indicated that Britain might suspend arms supplies if it was concluded that Israel had violated international law, he said.

"Bloodbath"

Earlier on Sunday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the United Kingdom was “shocked by the bloodbath” in Gaza, and stressed that “this terrible war must end,” in a statement coinciding with the half-year anniversary of the start of the war.

But Sunak did not demand a ceasefire from Israel, and said he still defends "Israel's right to defeat the threat of Hamas terrorists and defend its security."

For his part, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote in an article for the Sunday Times that "Britain's support for Israel is not unconditional," and he considered that "the deaths of relief workers from the Central Kitchen are tragic and could have been avoided."

The British government is under parliamentary and popular pressure to stop its support for the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, as London is one of the largest arms suppliers to Israel after the United States.

A number of members of the British Parliament called for stopping the export of weapons to Israel, especially after the raid that targeted the World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza, in which 3 Britons were killed.

The British press published leaks about the British government receiving legal advice from its lawyers that Israel violated international humanitarian law in its war on the Gaza Strip, but officials are keeping the content of this advice secret.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies + British press