Campaigners take UK to court over export of F-35 components to Israel

The United Kingdom’s authorities faces a High Court challenge over the export of F-35 pitchy components utilized by Israel.

Co-claimants Al-Haq, a Palestinian rights organisation, and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) are down the case.

“We’re going to tribunal to effort to unit the authorities to halt supplying F-35 components to Israel,” Jennine Walker, a lawyer with GLAN and the ineligible steadfast Bindmans, representing Al-Haq, told Al Jazeera.

The four-day lawsuit is acceptable to statesman connected Tuesday, arsenic Israel’s onslaught successful Gaza continues with the assistance of F-35 jets, having already killed much than 61,700 people.

Here’s what you request to know:

What’s happening?

In September 2024, the UK suspended astir 30 retired of 350 arms export licences to Israel pursuing a reappraisal that recovered determination was “a wide hazard definite subject exports to Israel mightiness beryllium utilized successful violations of planetary humanitarian law”, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

But it carved retired an objection for F-35 pitchy components, citing the F-35 planetary programme’s value to planetary security. The parts, however, would not beryllium sent straight to Israel, the authorities said.

Al-Haq and GLAN reason that the authorities is breaking home and planetary instrumentality done a loophole by allowing the parts to beryllium supplied to Israel via the planetary spares excavation and F-35 spouse countries, “despite the [International Court of Justice] uncovering that determination is plausible hazard of genocide being committed against Palestinians successful Gaza”.

The UK reportedly provides astir 15 percent of the components successful the F-35 combatant jets utilized by Israel.

The lawsuit has taken connected new significance aft a study past week by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressives International and Workers for a Free Palestine suggested F-35 parts are inactive being sent straight to Israel arsenic of March 2025.

“Despite the September 2024 suspension of nonstop shipments of F-35 components from the UK to Israel, the information suggest specified shipments are ongoing arsenic of March 2025”, the study said, citing Israeli taxation authorization data.

From Tuesday until Friday, High Court judges volition analyse whether the government’s determination to suspend immoderate but not each arms licences for export to Israel was legally correct.

Al Jazeera understands the judicial reappraisal volition absorption connected the carve-out for F-35 pitchy parts. The campaigners person said they purpose to guarantee the UK authorities “urgently suspends each arms exports to Israel”, portion accusing the UK of “complicity” successful Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

What volition the campaigners argue?

Co-claimants Al-Haq and GLAN applied for a judicial reappraisal into arms export licences to Israel successful December 2023, citing violations carried retired by Israel against Palestinians successful Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

They accidental F-35 jets person plausibly been progressive successful warfare crimes.

“We cognize Israel is utilizing the F-35 jets to weaponry civilians. For illustration [in] the onslaught connected March 18 which broke the ceasefire, and this wouldn’t beryllium imaginable without the UK’s help,” Walker said.

“Hundreds of civilians died,” Walker said, referring to 1 of the deadliest days crossed Gaza erstwhile Israeli assaults killed much than 400 people. “We cognize each F-35 pitchy has immoderate British parts.”

What’s the UK’s position?

In a connection sent to Al Jazeera, a spokesperson with the UK’s Foreign Office said, “This authorities has suspended applicable licences for the [Israeli army] that mightiness beryllium utilized to perpetrate oregon facilitate superior violations of planetary humanitarian instrumentality successful Gaza.”

The spokesperson added that of the remaining licences for Israel, the “vast majority” are not for the Israeli service but for “civilian purposes oregon re-export, and truthful are not utilized successful the warfare successful Gaza”.

The spokesperson reiterated the government’s presumption that the F-35 programme exemption was “due to its strategical relation successful NATO and wider implications for planetary bid and security”, adding that “any proposition that the UK is licensing different weapons for usage by Israel successful the warfare successful Gaza is misleading”.

Which different groups are progressive successful the case?

Oxfam, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are assisting the tribunal by submitting written evidence.

Oxfam’s involution is based connected its documentation of the demolition caused by Israeli occurrence connected h2o sanitation and wellness facilities.

Akshaya Kumar, the manager of situation advocacy astatine Human Rights Watch, raised the thought of transgression responsibility, referencing the Yugoslavia warfare crimes tribunal.

“If you are a supplier, you are aiding and abetting the continued assault, the continued aerial strikes. You are portion of that transgression responsibility,” she said.

Elizabeth Rghebi, the MENA advocacy manager astatine Amnesty International USA, argued that respective states person either been unwilling to observe planetary ineligible obligations oregon person claimed that the operation of the F-35 programme makes it intolerable to use arms controls to the end-user, “which would marque the full programme incompatible with planetary law”.

What is the standard of harm from Israeli aerial strikes successful Gaza?

Israel’s latest subject battle connected Gaza began soon aft October 7, 2023, erstwhile Hamas, the radical that governs the Strip, led an incursion into confederate Israel, during which 1,139 radical were killed and much than 200 were taken captive.

Israel has failed to execute its stated purpose of crushing Hamas, portion its aerial bombardment from jets, including the F-35, has decimated civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, mosques and churches.

Emeritus prof Paul Rogers from the University of Bradford said, “In presumption of tonnage dropped, astir modern wars person had precise precocious levels of tonnage used. Gaza is astir apt 1 of the worst. If you spell backmost to the Second World War – [there was] the carpet bombing of German cities, the firebombing of Japanese cities, for that matter, and, connected a smaller scale, the bombing Britain experienced during the 2nd and 3rd years of the war.”

He added: “So, it’s not exceptional successful that sense, but the attraction of truthful overmuch firepower successful a precise tiny country is precise unusual. It bears examination with immoderate of the worst examples of modern warfare and their interaction connected civilians.”

Palestinians inspect the harm astatine a schoolhouse sheltering displaced radical aft an Israeli attack, successful the Jabalia exile camp, successful the bluish Gaza Strip, connected May 12, 2025 [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented the woes inflicted connected Gaza’s healthcare sector, including the systematic demolition of hospitals, withholding of aesculapian supplies and the detention of doctors.

“Airstrikes and a deficiency of aesculapian supplies, food, h2o and substance person virtually depleted an already under-resourced wellness system,” the WHO said.

It added that 90 percent of lodging units successful Gaza person been destroyed oregon damaged. A akin percent of schoolhouse buildings necessitate implicit reconstruction oregon large rehabilitation.