The chair of the parliamentary select committees that oversee British arms exports has written to the foreign secretary requesting details of any military exports that may have been used by the Israeli army during its invasion of Gaza.

In the letter Sir John Stanley also asks Philip Hammond for more details of the government's review of arm export licences, which was announced this week.

The intervention will increase pressure on the government to halt arms sales to Israel and follows the resignation of the Foreign Office minister Sayeeda Warsi, who left the coalition over its failure to condemn the actions of Israel in Gaza and a call by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, for an embargo.

Stanley, who chairs the Commons committees on arms export controls, wants Hammond to release information about any "controlled goods, including components, technologies and software, that have received British government approval for export to Israel which the government has reason to believe may have been used by the Israelis in the course of Operation Protective Edge either from within Israel or in Gaza itself."

Since 2010, UK arms export licences to Israel worth £42m have been granted to 131 British defence industry manufacturers. According to government documents, the equipment ranges from components for drones to military radars, targeting systems and electronic warfare equipment.

The total value of dual-use export licences to Israel – which can be used for both commercial and military use – was worth about £8bn last year. The government says the vast bulk of this – about £7.75bn – is for commercial equipment, mostly cryptographic software to supply Israel's mobile phone networks.

But Stanley now wants the government to spell out if any of this equipment may have been used in Israel's Operation Protective Edge.

the former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell became the most senior former government minister to call for tougher action, warning that the level of misery and carnage in Gaza was likely to poison the remaining goodwill in the region for generations.

Earlier this week campaigners staged a rooftop protest at a factory in Lichfield, which they claim supplies engines for drones being used in Gaza. Twelve anti-arms campaigners scaled the factory of UAV Engines on Tuesday, forcing it to close.

Arms-control campaigners say that two UK companies – including UAV Engines – were given permission to supply components for the Hermes drones, which military experts say have been used in the war in Gaza.

According to its website, UAV Engines, a subsidiary of the Israeli defence contractor Elbit, manufactures engines for "various size tactical UAV's [unmanned aerial vehicles], target drones and single-mission platforms".