Cameron backed arms for Israel days after aid staff died

David Cameron personally recommended that the UK continue to sell arms to Israel, two days after three British aid workers had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

- Patrick Wintour

James Kirby, 47, from Somerset, James Henderson, 33, from Cornwall and John Chapman, 57, from Dorset, members of World Central Kitchen, were killed on 1 April. Two days later Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, recommended that arms sales continue, with the decision confirmed by the business secretary on 8 April.

Cameron said this week that the strike that killed the aid workers revealed systemic and personal failures by members of the Israel Defense Forces. His decision appears to have been made based on an assessment of Israel's compliance with humanitarian law that did not cover the aid workers' deaths because of a time lag in the government's process for deciding if arms exports are at risk of being used to commit war crimes.

Indeed, it appears possible, according to court documents, that the business department's assessment did not cover any incidents after 28 January, so, at the time of decision, it was excluding 70 days of war.

An update on the handling of arms export licences was prepared that took events into account up until the end of February, but the Foreign Office has declined to say if it was included in the advice given to ministers.