The United Kingdom Government faces a challenge to the High Court concerning the export of the F-35 jet components used by Israel.
The Al-Haq co-climators, an organization of Palestinian rights, and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) are at the origin of the case.
“We are going to court to try to force the government to stop providing F-35 components in Israel,” Jennine Walker, Glan’s lawyer and the Bindmans’ law, representative of Al-Haq, told Al Jennine Walker.
The four-day affair begins on Tuesday, while the assault of Israel in Gaza continues with the help of F-35 Jets, having already killed more than 61,700 people.
Here is what you need to know:
What’s going on?
In September 2024, the United Kingdom suspended approximately 30 of the 350 weapons export licenses to Israel following an examination which revealed that there was “a clear risk that certain military exports to Israel could be used in violations of international humanitarian law”, according to the Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development.
But he has widened an exception for Jet F-35 components, citing the importance of the Global F-35 program for international security. The documents, however, would not be sent directly to Israel, said the government.
Al-Haq and Glan argue that the government violates national and international law through an escape by allowing documents to be provided to Israel via the Global Spares pool and the partner countries of the F-35, “despite the (International Court of Justice) according to which there is a plausible risk of genocide committed against the Palestinians of Gaza”.
The United Kingdom would provide approximately 15% of the components of F-35 fighter planes used by Israel.
The case took into account a new meaning after a report last week by the Palestinian Young Movement, international progressives and workers for a free F-35 parties suggested by Palestine are still sent directly to Israel in March 2025.
“Despite the suspension of September 2024 of direct shipments of F-35 components of the United Kingdom to Israel, the data suggest that these shipments are underway in March 2025,” said the report, citing data from the Israeli tax authorities.
From Tuesday to Friday, the high court judges will examine whether the government’s decision to suspend some, but not all arms licenses for export to Israel, was legally correct.
Tel Aviv Tribune understands that the judicial review will focus on the parts of the sculpture of Jet F-35 parts. The activists said they were aimed at ensuring that the British government “urgently suspends all arms exports to Israel”, while accusing the United Kingdom of “complicity” in the Israel genocide against the Palestinians.
What will activists say?
The co-citizens al-Haq and Glan asked for a judicial examination on the export licenses of arms to Israel in December 2023, citing violations made by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
They say that the F-35 jets were plausibly involved in war crimes.
“We know that Israel uses the F-35 jets to bomb civilians. For example (in) the March 18 attack which broke the ceasefire, and this would not be possible without the help of the United Kingdom,” said Walker.
“Hundreds of civilians have died,” Walker said, referring to one of the deadliest days in Gaza when Israeli assaults killed more than 400 people. “We know that each F-35 plane has British pieces.”
What is the position of the United Kingdom?
In a statement sent to Tel Aviv Tribune, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom said: “This government has suspended relevant licenses for the army (Israeli army) which could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.”
The spokesman added that on the remaining licenses for Israel, the “vast majority” is not for the Israeli army but for civil purposes or to be re-exported, and are therefore not used in the war in Gaza “.
The spokesman reiterated the position of the government that the exemption from the F-35 program was “due to its strategic role in NATO and to broader implications for international peace and security”, adding that “any suggestion that the United Kingdom releases other weapons for use by Israel in the war in Gaza is misleading”.
What other groups are involved in the case?
Oxfam, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International help the case by subjecting written evidence.
Oxfam’s intervention is based on its documentation of destruction caused by Israeli fires on water sanitation and health establishments.
Akshaya Kumar, Director of Pleidoyer in Crisis at Human Rights Watch, raised the idea of criminal responsibility, referring to the Yugoslavia War Crimes Court.
“If you are a supplier, you help and encourage the continuous assault, the pursuit of air strikes. You are part of this criminal responsibility,” she said.
Elizabeth Rghebi, director of the MENA defenders at Amnesty International USA, argued that several states were not willing to observe international legal obligations or have said that the structure of the F-35 program makes it impossible to apply armaments control to the end user, “which would make the entire program incompatible with international law”.
What is the scale of damage to Israeli air strikes in Gaza?
Israel’s latest military assault on Gaza started shortly after October 7, 2023, when Hamas, the group that governs the strip led a foray into southern Israel, during which 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 were taken in captivity.
Israel has failed to achieve its declared goal of crushing Hamas, while its air bombing of jets, including F-35, decimated civil infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, mosques and churches.
Professor Emeritus Paul Rogers of the University of Bradford said: “In terms of tonnage lowered, most modern wars had very high levels of tonnage used. Gaza is probably one of the worst. If you return to the Second World War – (there was) the carpet bomb of German cities, the bombing of fires has experienced third year, on a small scale, to a warning.
He added: “So, it is not exceptional in this direction, but the concentration of so much firepower in a very small area is very unusual. It is comparable with some of the worst examples of modern war and their impact on civilians.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented the misfortunes inflicted on the Gaza health sector, including the systematic destruction of hospitals, the restraint of medical supplies and the detention of doctors.
“Air strikes and the lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel have practically exhausted an already underworld health system,” said WHO.
He added that 90% of the accommodation in Gaza was destroyed or damaged. A similar percentage of school buildings requires complete reconstruction or major rehabilitation.