Foreign Office staff have been told they should consider resigning if they disagree with the UK government’s position on Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

More than 300 officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) wrote to foreign secretary David Lammy on 16 May, raising concerns about the UK’s “potential complicity” in the conflict.

The letter said the UK government’s position had “contributed to the erosion of global norms”, including the UK’s “continued sale of weapons to Israel, despite concerns about violations of international law”.

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The response, dated 29 May, came from FCDO permanent secretaries Sir Oliver Robbins and Nick Dyer. It said the department “wants to see healthy challenge as part of the policy-making process” and highlighted mechanisms available to staff uncomfortable with Middle East policy.

As well as a bespoke “challenge board” and listening sessions, Robbins and Dyer reminded staff that they should give advice “without fear or favour” through their line management chain, but that decisions were for ministers.

The response added that, if staff worked in an area where “the direction of government policy causes you direct difficulty thanks to personal or family circumstances, you should consult HR or your line manager who will consider any reasonable adjustment to your deployment.”

They added that if staff wanted to raise ethical or legal concerns, the FCDO provides staff counsellors as “a safe and confidential sounding board”.

However, they concluded: “If your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound, your ultimate recourse is to resign from the Civil Service. This is an honourable course.”

“This is an HR car crash,” a former senior UK diplomat told Novara Media. “Their reply is utterly offensive to decent people – in this case hundreds of them – whose principles and motivation made them seek a career in diplomacy only to see them now disdainfully dismissed as if they are an awkward employee who needs counselling.”

They added: “This should have been a reasoned reply from the foreign secretary to what was a perfectly reasonable letter. It should not have been a sneering fob off by two permanent secretaries who will have now totally lost the confidence of the building. Their judgment is appalling, and their response is shameful. This is a matter of deep personal conscience; not an issue of conduct.”

In a statement provided to the BBC, the FCDO said the job of civil servants was to deliver on government policies and provide professional, impartial advice as set out in the Civil Service Code.

“There are systems in place which allow them to raise concerns if they have them,” said the spokesperson, adding: “Since day one, this government has rigorously applied international law in relation to the war in Gaza. One of our first acts in government was to suspend export licences that could be used by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza.”

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