DAVID Lammy has U-turned on his repeated assertions that Israel is breaking international law in Gaza – as he told MPs that a British national had been wounded amid renewed bombings of the occupied region.
The Foreign Secretary told the Commons on Thursday that although there was a “clear risk” of Israel breaching the law, it was for the courts to decide.
It came after Lammy twice on Monday told MPs that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was guilty of breaching international laws.
First, Labour’s Dr Rupa Huq welcomed the “strong statement that blockading all aid into Gaza, including UK aid, is ‘appalling and unacceptable’”, adding: “What consequences are there for what people are saying is a breach of international law?”
Lammy, in response, said Huq was “right: this is a breach of international law”.
The second time, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had raised the issue of aid blockades on Gaza, prompting Lammy to reply: “I did say in my contribution that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law. Of course, we have spoken to the Israelis about those concerns.”
Pat McFadden, a key ally of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on Tuesday confirmed that Lammy had been speaking for the UK Government.
However, just hours later, Downing Street undermined the two senior ministers and U-turned, saying there was a "clear risk" of law breaches but nothing further.
Lammy's U-turn on Thursday brings him into line behind the official position of No 10.
“As I told the House on Monday, this is appalling and unacceptable. Ultimately, of course, these are matters for the courts not governments to determine, but it’s difficult to see how denying humanitarian assistance to a civilian population can be compatible with international humanitarian law.
“Though it’s important to say I could have been a little clearer in the House on Monday, our position remains that Israel’s actions in Gaza are a clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law.”
Senior LibDem MP Alistair Carmichael, the former Scottish secretary, questioned the purpose of the U-turn from Lammy.
“The language that we use in this conflict matters,” the MP said. “We know what has happened and, the Foreign Secretary has reminded us today, for weeks supplies of basic goods and electricity have been blocked.
“So to say that Israel, having done that, 'risks breaching international law' is to say that the position of this country – and this is how it will be heard in Tel Aviv – does not see these acts as a prima facie breach of international law. Is that really the Government's position?”
Lammy said that it was. 
Elsewhere, Lammy confirmed that a British national was wounded in an Israeli attack on a UN compound in Gaza on Wednesday, as he said recent attacks had been an “appalling loss of life”.
The Foreign Secretary told MPs: “Yesterday morning a UN compound in Gaza was hit, I can confirm to the House that a British national was amongst the wounded."
Lammy added that the attacks on Gaza on Tuesday night had caused the largest Palestinian death toll on a single day since the war began.
He said: “A number of Hamas figures were reportedly killed, but it’s been reported that over 400 Palestinians were killed in missile strikes and artillery barrages. The majority of them were women and children.
“This appears to have been the deadliest single day for Palestinians since the war began. This is an appalling loss of life, and we mourn the loss of every civilian.”
