Over 230 global NGOs say all F-35 exports to Israel are unlawful
More than 230 global civil society organisations, including those taking legal action in five different countries, are calling on governments producing F-35 fighter jets to immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel.
“The past 16 months have illustrated with devastating clarity that Israel is not committed to complying with international law,” the organisations wrote in a letter released on Tuesday.
They welcomed the temporary ceasefire in Gaza, but warned that its fragility risks further Israeli violations while also highlighting Israel’s use of military fighter jets in the occupied West Bank.
The letter said that F-35 partner countries “have individually and collectively failed” to stop the jets from being used to commit serious violations of international law “despite overwhelming evidence”.
“States have either been unwilling to observe their international legal obligations and/or claimed that the structure of the F-35 programme means that it is not possible to apply arms controls to any end-user, making the entire programme incompatible with international law,” they wrote.
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The letter was sent to government ministers in F-35 partner countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK where signatories have taken legal action to try to halt arms exports to Israel.
The organisations said that “a number of incoherent positions” had been put forward by F-35 partners, including the UK, which allow for the continued export of the fighter jet’s parts and components destined for Israel while suspending other arms licences.
By continuing to export these parts, even indirectly, the organisations say that all partner countries are violating international and domestic legal obligations which have been reinforced by findings at the International Court of Justice.
Shawan Jabarin, the general director of Al-Haq, a Palestinian NGO which is involved in several of the legal challenges including the one in the UK, said Israeli air strikes have “devastated Gaza”, repeatedly targeting densely populated areas, alleged “safe zones” and shelters.
At least 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been forcibly displaced.
“The overwhelming evidence of Israel’s grave violations of international law makes the F-35 partner nations - all of which are signatories to the Geneva Conventions, with the majority also having ratified the Arms Trade Treaty - complicit in these actions,” Jabarin said.
He said it was “imperative” for states to uphold their duties under international law and “collectively ensure that F-35 jets and components no longer reach Israel, halting further complicity in these international crimes”.
Decision by consensus
The F-35 programme currently has no track-and-trace capability to allow for parts destined for specific countries to be halted without disrupting the global fleet.
Court documents filed last month in the UK legal challenge revealed that under a 2006 memorandum of understanding between the participating states, the F-35 programme is overseen by an executive steering board chaired by the US and composed of representatives from other countries involved.
According to the court documents, the board makes decisions by consensus, so all participant states would have to agree for components being used in Israel F-35s to be limited.
The UK government has acknowledged that there is a clear risk that Israel may commit war crimes using F-35s, but has said it could not suspend the parts without disrupting the entire F-35 fleet and threatening global peace and security "within weeks".
Gearoid O Cuinn, director of the UK-based Global Legal Action Network which is also challenging the UK, said: "The UK government's position is that Israel can commit whatever depraved atrocity it pleases in Palestine, and nothing will stop the supply of British war plan components.
"In taking this indefensible position, the UK government has shamelessly put US interests and arms contracts above its own international legal obligations.”
Marte Hansen Haugan, president of Changemaker, a youth NGO in Norway, which is an F-35 partner country, said it was “horrifying to know” that her country was among those enabling Israel to kill civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.
“The unwillingness to halt or pause the production of F-35 components reflects an interpretation of national and international law that excludes Palestinian lives,” Haugan said.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with Palestinian civil defence officials estimating that 10,000 more bodies may still remain under rubble.
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