No evidence of genocide in Gaza, UK lawyers say in arms export case

No grounds has been seen that a genocide is occurring successful Gaza oregon that women and children were targeted by the IDF, UK authorities lawyers person claimed, arsenic a precocious tribunal lawsuit opened into the handling of arms exports controls to Israel.

They besides suggested determination was nary work placed connected the UK to marque different states comply with planetary humanitarian instrumentality but lone to guarantee that nary breach occured wrong its jurisdiction.

The authorities is seeking to support itself successful a judicial reappraisal brought implicit allegations that it acted unlawfully successful continuing to merchantability F-35 parts and components to a planetary pool, adjacent though immoderate of those components mightiness beryllium utilized by Israel successful Gaza successful a mode that the authorities regards arsenic a breach of planetary law.

Much of the lawsuit volition crook connected the grade to which planetary instrumentality places obligations successful home law.

Campaigners extracurricular the precocious tribunal successful London connected 13 May situation UK arms exports to Israel. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

At the commencement of a four-day proceeding astatine the precocious tribunal successful London, Raza Husain KC, for the Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq, said: “This assertion is being heard against the backdrop of quality calamity unfolding successful Gaza, the extremity of which is hard to convey successful words.”

In September the Labour authorities suspended astir applicable arms export licences for usage successful Israel but gave a carve retired to the F-35 programme, saying planetary bid and information required that it was not disrupted.

The conflict to forestall Russia occupying Ukraine could person been affected successful weeks without the carve retired arsenic the F-35 is simply a cardinal pillar of Nato, the authorities has told the court.

It said the lone applicable mode to forestall UK-manufactured F-35 components reaching Israel was to suspend each UK exports into the F-35 programme, a measurement that would incur superior risks to planetary bid and security.

“The likelihood of UK-manufactured components being utilized successful existing Israeli planes is precise small, portion the IDF is 1 of the astir important and well-equipped militaries successful the satellite and truthful the interaction of suspending F-35 components connected operations successful Gaza is apt to beryllium minimal,” the authorities lawyers said.

The judicial reappraisal has been mounted by Al-Haq, the Global Legal Action Network, and has been joined by Amnesty, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch.

The proceeding has taken astir a twelvemonth to scope court, arsenic the authorities argued its decisions were not justiciable.

Lawyers for Al-Haq argued the F-35 carve retired was not “consistent with the UK’s home and planetary ineligible obligations”, including the Geneva conventions, Genocide Convention and Arms Control Treaty.

But the government’s lawyers argued that UK courts cannot 2nd conjecture authorities decisions successful matters of overseas policy.

It besides cited an annex sent to ministers successful August past twelvemonth that concluded: “a uncovering that Israel is not committed to comply with International Humanitarian Law does not needfully bespeak that it is harbouring genocidal intent.

“There person been a scope of affirmative statements and immoderate antagonistic statements from circumstantial actors; however, their remarks are not assessed to beryllium typical of the Israeli authorities overall.

“No grounds has been seen that Israel is deliberately targeting civilian women oregon children. There is besides grounds of Israel making efforts to bounds incidental harm to civilians.”

Government lawyers besides stressed that the planetary tribunal of justness past twelvemonth had not recovered determination was a plausible hazard of a genocide occurring.

The authorities argues nary usurpation of the work to forestall specified a genocide “can hap unless and until determination is really a genocide”.

Yet Husain told the tribunal that “on the archetypal of this month, astatine slightest 1.9 cardinal people, oregon astir 90% of the population, person been displaced connected 10 times oregon more.

“On 7 May the UN Office for the Coordination of quality affairs reported that each azygous 1 of Gaza hospitals has been damaged oregon destroyed and, arsenic of this month, lone fractional were partially functional.

“Official reporting from the ministry of health, cited by UN agencies indicated that betwixt 23 October and 25 April implicit 50,000 Palestinians to beryllium killed, including astatine slightest 15,000 children and a further 214,000 injured.”

He said: “These acts of annihilation person been accompanied by persistent genocidal, dehumanising and adjacent celebratory statements made astatine each levels of the Israeli subject and governmental structure, including specified figures, I regret to say, arsenic the premier minister, president, curate of defence, curate of nationalist information and curate of finance.”

The proceeding earlier Lord Justice Males and Mrs Justice Steyn is owed to reason connected Friday, and a determination is expected successful penning astatine a aboriginal date.