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The British Supreme Court begins today, Tuesday, to consider a petition submitted by human rights groups and NGOs after the judiciary responded to its call against the government on charges of violating international law by providing Israel with spare parts for combat aircraft, amid the intensity of the war in the Gaza Strip.
The sessions are expected to last 4 days in the Supreme Court in London, which is the last stage in a legal battle that started a while ago.
With the support of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others, the Palestinian “Al-Haq” institution seeks to end the government’s exports of components made in the UK for the F-35 fighter planes manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Israel uses these American warplanes in Gaza and the West Bank in its devastating raids of infrastructure and buildings.
The director of the Amnesty International branch in the United Kingdom said that Britain has failed to fulfill its “legal commitment to prevent genocide” by allowing the export of major components to Israel.
According to Oxfam, the refueling probe, laser targeting, tires, back body, fan payment system and ejaculation seat are all made in Britain.
For their part, lawyers supporting the case of the “Al -Haq” Foundation say that the plane “cannot continue flying without continuous supplies of the UK manufactured components.”
Attack
“Global Action Network” (World Work Network- Galaban) said that they had filed the case shortly after the aggression erupted on the sector following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation and accusations against Israel of committing extermination.
Lawyers said that the UK government decided in December 2023, April and May 2024 to continue selling weapons to Israel, before suspending in September 2024 licenses to export some weapons that the Israeli army used to use in its military operations in Gaza.
The new Labor Party government suspended about 30 licenses after a review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, but the partial ban did not include British-made components of advanced F-35 fighter ghost planes.
A British government spokesman told the French Press Agency that “it is not currently possible to suspend licenses of” F-35 “components for their use by Israel without damaging the entire international F-35 program, given the role of these strategic aircraft in NATO and the broader repercussions that it can leave on international peace and security.
Obligations and behaviors
The British government stresses that it “acted in line with its legal obligations”, and that it “adheres to the fulfillment of its responsibilities under local and international laws.”
However, the legal network “Glin” described the exclusion of “F-35” aircraft from the decision to comment as a “loophole” that allowed the components to reach indirectly through a global assembly system.
Earlier last Friday, deputies in the British Parliament urged Foreign Minister David Lami to address allegations to continue exporting military equipment to Israel despite the partial suspension approved by the British government.
In a letter addressed by 40 deputies to the minister, the deputies said, “We fear that Parliament will be misleading after suspending the licenses of the main weapons export to Israel.”
