British government lawyers believe Israel did not violate international law in Gaza, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Tuesday, although he expressed concern about the military operation in response to a deadly attack by Hamas on October 7, AFP reported.

“The short answer to that question is no,” the former prime minister said after being asked by a member of the foreign affairs committee whether he had received legal advice that Israel had acted in breach of international law.

Asked about the legality of the Israeli strikes at the hearing, David Cameron still found some of the things he saw during the war in the Palestinian enclave “deeply disturbing”.

“Am I concerned that Israel has acted in a way that may violate international law because this or that building has been bombed? Yes, of course, I am worried,” he said, explaining that this is why they turned to lawyers.

Asked whether government legal experts believed Israel could be “vulnerable to a hearing” at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, David Cameron said: “It’s close to it.”

But he added that “there’s always a question mark” and that further research is needed.

The minister also said that militants from the Palestinian Islamist group had “lost about half of their ability” to fire rockets at Israel.

It is the first time David Cameron has had to answer to MPs for his actions since his surprise appointment to government, as he sits in the unelected House of Lords rather than the House of Commons, which is made up of MPs.

He also pushed for US lawmakers to approve an additional $250 million in military aid to Ukraine, which is currently blocked by Republicans in Congress.

In response to a Hamas attack on Israeli territory on October 7 that killed an estimated 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures, Israel stepped up its strikes and launched an offensive into Palestinian territory, killing more than 23,210 people, mostly women, teenagers and children, according to Hamas.