Is Britain breaking international law over Israel to avoid offending Trump? We may find out in court this week | Yasmine Ahmed

On Tuesday, the British authorities volition beryllium successful the precocious tribunal defending the indefensible: its continuing support of arms exports to Israel. As the government’s lawyers instrumentality the level to present their opening remarks – successful a lawsuit that was brought by the Palestinian quality rights radical Al-Haq and is supported by Human Rights Watch – thousands of children successful Gaza volition beryllium starving. This is the effect of an Israeli blockade connected food, assistance and aesculapian supplies that defies the binding orders of the planetary tribunal of justice.

Thousands of mothers volition beryllium mourning the children they person mislaid successful an battle connected Gaza that is estimated to person outgo the lives of more than 50,000 people, according to the Gaza ministry of health. Thousands of radical volition beryllium homeless, forcibly displaced and surviving among the rubble of the towns and cities they nary longer recognise.

Israel is committing wide and systematic violations of planetary law. This is plain to see. Organisations similar my ain person documented however the Israeli authorities is committing an array of atrocity crimes against Palestinians successful Gaza, including acts of genocide and the transgression against humanity of extermination. An autarkic UN inquiry has recovered the same.

Under British and planetary law, arms licensing should beryllium suspended if determination is simply a “clear risk” that arms mightiness beryllium utilized to perpetrate oregon facilitate superior violations of planetary humanitarian law. That threshold hasn’t conscionable been crossed, it has been bulldozed.

Last September, the authorities admitted the threshold has been crossed and halted astir 30 export licences for subject instrumentality that is utilized by the Israeli service successful Gaza. But it near 1 captious loophole: F-35 combatant pitchy components that spell into a planetary F-35 proviso programme, which is overseen by the US, that Israel sources parts from. Fifteen per cent of the F35 combatant pitchy – arguably the astir lethal UK export utilized by Israeli forces successful Gaza – is manufactured successful the UK. It is reported that an F-35 was utilized successful a strike connected al-Mawasi, a designated harmless zone, wherever Israeli forces dropped astatine slightest 3 2,000lb bombs, seemingly sidesplitting 90 people, including women and children.

So if Keir Starmer, the premier minister, accepts that this captious ineligible threshold has been met, however tin the authorities basal up successful tribunal and warrant this breach of planetary law? Well, the authorities argues that the work to debar selling arms that volition beryllium utilized successful imaginable warfare crimes does not use successful this discourse due to the fact that the F-35 programme is crucial to ensuring planetary “peace and security”. What this means successful signifier is inactive unclear, but 1 constituent of delivering planetary bid and security, exposed during the past tribunal hearing, appears to beryllium that the UK doesn’t privation a overseas argumentation astatine likelihood with the United States. According to documents submitted successful evidence, upholding its obligations “would undermine US assurance successful the UK and Nato astatine a captious juncture successful our corporate past and acceptable backmost relations”.

This statement is highly dangerous. It would let states to flout their planetary obligations simply successful bid to appease an ally; and it risks moving a manager and horses done the planetary arms power framework, including the UN arms commercialized pact (ATT), which the UK ratified successful 2014. It volition person far-reaching consequences for the lives of radical successful Gaza and risks the struggle determination becoming a blueprint for different equipped conflicts, wherever planetary instrumentality is treated arsenic optional and relationships with a almighty state considered paramount. This is unsafe successful immoderate discourse but with Donald Trump astatine the helm successful the White House, it borders connected the grotesquely absurd.

Trump has aggressively attacked captious organs of justness and bid specified arsenic the planetary transgression tribunal (ICC) and the UN, often successful defence of Israel, including by authorising a sanctions programme that targets the captious enactment of the ICC, withdrawing the US from the UN’s quality rights council, and proposing to slash backing to the galore UN programmes and institutions. His medication has sanctioned the wide deportation and imprisonment of immigrants without respect for their owed process rights.

In the discourse of existent hostilities successful Gaza, Trump has further entrenched and hardened Joe Biden’s approach, deepening US complicity successful Israeli atrocities. Trump has supported the taste cleansing and forced displacement of Palestinians successful Gaza, supported the run to liquidate the UN alleviation works bureau for Palestine refugees successful the adjacent eastbound (Unrwa), the main UN assistance bureau for Palestinian refugees. He has encouraged Israel to interruption the ceasefire, reversed a halt connected the proviso to Israel of the devastating 2,000lb bombs, lifted sanctions connected convulsive actors successful the West Bank, and threatens overseas nationals who criticise Israel successful the US with deportation. It is unsurprising that repression of Palestinians, settler unit and onshore seizures successful the occupied West Bank person spiked since helium took office.

It is clip for the UK to re-evaluate the alleged “special relationship” with the US and instrumentality a stand. Abandoning its ineligible defence of licensing F-35 combatant pitchy components to the planetary programme is the ineligible and motivation happening to do, it is the humane happening to do, and it is besides the fashionable happening to do, with polling showing that a majority of Britons enactment a suspension of arms exports to Israel. At a clip of unthinkable uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval, Britain needs to basal up for and beryllium committed to planetary instrumentality – adjacent if it upsets Donald Trump.

• Yasmine Ahmed is UK manager of Human Rights Watch