SECURITY minister Tom Tugendhat tried to shirk the government’s complicity with the bloodshed in Gaza today by claiming British-supplied arms are “not likely” to be used in a major Israeli offensive.

He told Sky News that he “can’t go into details” but “the reality is we’re dealing with a very, very different element here.”

Israel is advancing troops towards Rafah and intensifying attacks on the city, amid threats of a full-scale invasion.

Emily Apple, from Campaign Against the Arms Trade, highlighted that Britain makes 15 per cent of the components in the F35 jets Israel is using to bombard Rafah.

She said: “The UK has legal duty to suspend arms exports when there is a clear risk they could be used to violate international law. Nothing could be clearer.

“These obscene and immoral deals have to stop and the politicians and the arms dealers complicit in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian people must face the consequences of their actions.”

Britain has licensed at least £489m of arms to Israel since 2015, according to CAAT.

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said Mr Tugendhat’s comments “show an utter disregard” for the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

She added: “‘Not likely’ is not enough — the British government should stop facilitating genocide once and for all.”

Kate Hudson, from Campaign against Nuclear Disarmament, said: “Tom Tugendhat and the rest of the British government is trying to have it both ways: providing military support that enables Israel’s war crimes in Gaza while claiming that it’s not going to be used in the attacks on Rafah. 

“How does Tugendhat know this? We need the facts, and the details of our government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide.”