High Court ruling expected in UK arms to Israel challenge
The British High Court is expected to deliver a verdict on Monday morning in the legal challenge over the UK government’s continued supply of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel.
The ruling in the case brought by the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan) and Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq is the most anticipated in the arms control community since the government was taken to court over its arms sales to Saudi Arabia during its bombing campaign in the Yemen war.
The challenge over UK arms exports to Israel was first initiated in late October 2023, soon after Israel launched an attack on Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks in Israel earlier in the month.
Under the Tory government, UK arms exports to Israel continued without any apparent change, despite concerns raised as early as November 2023 by the Foreign Office unit assessing Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law.
Last September, the newly elected Labour government suspended around 30 export licenses for UK-made arms that the government assessed could be used in Gaza.
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The legal case then shifted to focus on the UK-made F-35 fighter jet parts sent to a global F-35 programme spare parts pool which the government exempted from suspension.
UK-made F-35 components make up 15 percent of every F-35, one of the world's most sophisticated fighter jets which Israel has used extensively in its campaign in Gaza, as well as in Lebanon and more recently in Iran.
The government has argued that there is no way the UK could unilaterally halt the export of UK-made parts without impacting the worldwide fleet of F-35s and threatening global peace and security.
Glan and Al-Haq, and three British human rights organisations which are parties to the case, argue that under the Arms Trade Treaty and the Genocide Convention, the UK, as a state party to both, is obligated to stop sending the parts and that, by failing to follow its obligations, is threatening the rule of law globally.
More than 56,500 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with 133,419 wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ruling is expected to appear online on the National Archives website at 10:30am.
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