Israel’s Defence Ministry has criticised the UK government for barring its officials from an arms fair in London next month, calling it an act of “discrimination”, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement, the ministry said the decision not to invite Israeli government officials to next month’s DSEI UK exhibition amounted to “a deliberate and regrettable act of discrimination against Israel’s representatives”.

It claimed that the decision played “into the hands of extremists” and gave “legitimacy to terrorism”.

Israel’s Defence Ministry has previously had a major presence at the annual exhibition of weapons and military equipment, but its officials have not been invited to this year’s event as a response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Israeli arms companies will be able to take part in the event as normal.