UK 'reviewing F-35 fighter jet and Israel arms licences', say campaigners
The UK government has said it is reviewing its decision to allow the continued export of F-35 fighter jet components in light of concerns that they could end up in Israel, according to campaigners who are seeking to block the exports.
In a statement on Wednesday, two campaign groups taking legal action against the government said it had written to them to confirm that it is reviewing both the export of the fighter jet parts to a global supply pool and continuing direct arms export licences to Israel.
It comes after the two groups, the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan), and Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organisation, last week threatened to seek an emergency court injunction to stop all arms exports to Israel over concerns that British-made weapons could be used by Israeli forces in Gaza in violation of international humanitarian law.
"In response to our pre-action letter sent last week, the UK government has said it is reviewing its decision to allow the export of components for the F-35 warplane to a global pool which serves Israel and other direct arms export licences," the two groups said.
The UK government in September suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel after a review found there was a clear risk they could be used in violations. The measures included the suspension of F-35 components directly from the UK to Israel.
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But hundreds of arms export licences remain in place.
The government also said in September that it would not suspend the export of F-35 components to a US-managed global pool, even though the parts could then be sent to Israel, because, it said, the F-35 programme was “integral to international security”.
As part of legal action brought by Glan and Al-Haq, the government last month revealed it had assessed that suspending these F-35 exports would “undermine US confidence in the UK and Nato” and would have “a profound impact on international peace and security”.
The campaign groups say that F-35 jets have played a key role in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, in which almost 45,000 people have been killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Arms control experts and researchers say Israel has relied on F-35s for a high volume of air strikes in Gaza and, more recently, in Lebanon over the past 13 months. UK-made parts make up 15 percent of the jets.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on war crimes charges.
Israel is also accused of genocide in an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice, and Glan and Al-Haq have warned that continuing weapons exports risks leaving British officials exposed to accusations of complicity in genocide.
Shawan Jabarin, Al-Haq’s general director, said: “Every day, our people are being killed by F-35s in Gaza. This must stop. The UK has international obligations to stop supplying arms and parts to Israel used to commit international crimes including genocide.”
Dearbhla Minogue, senior lawyer with Glan, said, "We welcome the fact that the government has been compelled to reconsider this F-35 ‘carve-out’. The position they took is, in our estimation, legally untenable and we hope they will finally do the only reasonable thing - stop the transfer of any British weapons for use by Israel against Palestinians."
When contacted by Middle East Eye, the Department for Business and Trade declined to comment.
In September, Jonathan Reynolds, the secretary of state for business and trade, told MPs that exports to the global F-35 programme would be kept under review.
Last month, Angela Eagle, a defence minister, told MPs that the US government controlled the global distribution of F-35 components.
Asked by Zarah Sultana, an independent MP, about F-35 components exported from the UK to Israel via the US since October 2023, Eagle said: "The government does not have visibility of F-35 components distributed by the programme to each F-35 nation and is unable to provide an estimate.”
Eagle separately said there had been 14 transfers of F-35 components from an RAF base to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024 “at the request of the US-led F-35 Programme”. The transfers predated the current ban on direct delivery of F-35 parts to Israel from the UK.
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