Australia is carrying out a review of all 66 defence-related export permits for Israel that were approved prior to the Gaza conflict.
Guardian Australia understands the review is being done in a similar manner to the UK government’s recent reassessment of arms licences to Israel, with the outcome to be announced “in coming months”.
Sources said the Department of Defence was weighing up each permit on a case-by-case basis and considering how it fits with Australia’s international obligations, including with respect to human rights.
A Defence spokesperson confirmed the review was progressing: “As circumstances in the Middle East evolve, Australia continues to scrutinise pre-existing export permits to Israel to ensure they align with our calibrated approach.”
The federal government has repeatedly stated that Australia “has not supplied weapons or ammunition to Israel since the conflict began and for at least the past five years”, and it continues to maintain that position.
But the government has faced criticism for failing to be transparent about what each permit covers. It has also defended Australia’s supply of parts for the global supply chain for the F-35 fighter aircraft. Israel has used F-35 aircraft in Gaza.
An export permit is required for any goods covered by Australia’s Defence and Strategic Goods List.
Defence officials told Senate estimates in June this year that Australia was “not a major defence exporter to Israel” but permits were required for a range of items, including IT equipment, software, radios, electronic components and dual-use goods.
Officials said Australia had issued about 247 permits that relate to Israel since 2019, of which about 66 remained “active”.
Shortly after those comments were made, Guardian Australia applied under freedom of information laws for an itemised list of the content of these 66 permits, but the Department of Defence did not meet the statutory deadline.
The application is now subject to a review by the Information Commissioner.
Defence officials hinted at the time that they would reassess existing permits, but Guardian Australia has since confirmed more details about the process.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, told the House of Commons last month that the government would suspend 30 of the UK’s 350 existing arms licences to Israel because of “a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
Australian officials are working their way through each active permit, looking at the export control criteria and talking to each of the companies involved.
It is understood the government has not yet revoked any of these permits but intends to finalise all decisions in one batch at the end of that review process.
“A permit would be refused if Australia identified an export would be used contrary to the national interest, including violating human rights,” the Defence spokesperson said.
“Permits are required for a broad range of goods and technologies, many of which have legitimate commercial and civilian applications.”
Guardian Australia can also reveal that Australia has now issued 12 defence-related export permits for Israel since October 2023, when the Hamas attacks triggered the Israeli military offensive on Gaza.
That figure is higher than the eight permits that were previously known at the time of the estimates committee hearing in June.
Defence says these export permits are required for items to travel from Australia to Israel for the purposes of repair or overhaul by Israeli suppliers before they return to Australia.
The Greens have called for an end to all two-way military trade with Israel, with the party’s defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, saying Australia must not do anything to “embolden Israel to continue the genocide”.
But the Albanese government has pushed back at the idea of ending contracts with Israeli companies that supply goods for use by the Australian Defence Force and Australian police.
The review comes after an application from the Australian Centre for International Justice to the defence minister, Richard Marles, in April requesting the revocation of all current export permits to Israel and to other countries which might later make them available to Israel.
The centre was acting on behalf of Palestinian human rights organisations.
The centre’s executive director and principal lawyer, Rawan Arraf, said the government had “spent the last 12 months muddying the waters” about the export control regime.
She said that under the Arms Trade Treaty, Australia was obliged not to approve the export of conventional arms, munitions, parts or components when there was an overriding risk that the item could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.
“The government has been put on notice, from the international court of justice, the international criminal court, the UN general assembly and other UN bodies, that Israel is committing serious violations of international law,” she said.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, has previously said he had “reasonable grounds to believe” two Israeli leaders and three Hamas leaders were responsible for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Israeli government has rejected the allegations in full, arguing the application for arrest warrants amounted to an attempt to deny the country’s right of self-defence.
The ICC pre-trial chamber has yet to make a decision on the arrest warrant applications. Israel said it had killed the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza on Thursday, meaning that all three Hamas figures named in Khan’s application are now all believed to be dead.
The Israeli embassy was contacted for comment.
