Rights groups call on UK to end all arms sales to Israel as court case begins

Rights groups and charities gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday to support a legal challenge against the UK government’s continuing export of F-35 fighter jet parts for use by Israel.

Holding Palestinian flags and signs calling on the government to “stop arming Israel”, dozens of campaigners joined the lawyers leading the case to demand an end to all UK arms exports to the country.

Groups present at the protest included Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, which bought forward the current case with the support of the Global Action Legal Network (GLAN), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam. 

Zarah Sultana, a suspended Labour MP, joined the protest alongside independent MPs Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, and Imran Hussain.

Sultana told Middle East Eye that British arms exports to Israel made the UK “complicit in genocide” in Gaza.

“Every F-35, which is described as the most lethal fighter by its own manufacturer, is dropping 2,000-pound bombs on people in Gaza and decimating whole neighbourhoods and universities,” Sultana said.

“And with 15 percent of every F-35 made here in the UK, it makes us complicit in the live-streamed genocide unfolding in Gaza.”

Clemence Lagourdat, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator in Gaza, also joined the protest and submitted evidence put forward by Al-Haq.

Recently returned from the territory, Lagourdat said Israel was “systematically destroying” Gaza’s infrastructure.

‘When you sell the weapons destroying an entire territory, you’ve made a clear choice: to endanger an entire population’

– Clemence Lagourdat, Oxfam 

“Bombing has severely affected the entire Gaza Strip. For the court case, we’ve submitted evidence showing that Israeli air strikes have destroyed over 70 percent of Gaza’s water infrastructure,” she told MEE.

“In addition, Israel has systematically blocked the entry of equipment needed for repairs, making it extremely difficult for people to access safe drinking water.”

“When you sell the weapons destroying an entire territory, you’ve made a clear choice: to endanger an entire population.”

The legal challenge, brought by Al-Haq and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), began just over a week after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks and Israel’s subsequent ground invasion of Gaza.

Nineteen months later, Israeli forces have killed 52,908 Palestinians in Gaza, as the four-day judicial review opened on Tuesday.

The case has had dramatic developments.

In February 2024, a judge dismissed the case, stating there was “no realistic prospect” of proving that the government’s arms export decisions were legally flawed.

However, a successful appeal revived the case. Even as court proceedings moved slowly, documents submitted to the court revealed key details about UK arms exports to Israel that the government had not made public.

In September 2024, just hours before Al-Haq and GLAN were set to request a full suspension of UK arms exports to Israel, the newly elected Labour government announced a partial suspension affecting around 30 licences.

This shifted the focus of the case to UK-made components for F-35 fighter jets. Though direct exports of these parts – critical to Israel’s attacks on both Gaza and Lebanon – were suspended in September, the components have continued to be sent indirectly via a global pool supplying spare parts to Israel.

The F-35 programme has stated that it does not track or trace these parts.

The UK government has argued that blocking shipments to the global pool would jeopardise the entire F-35 programme and pose a threat to global peace and security.

But rights groups say the carve-out for F-35 parts undermines international norms and breaches both domestic and international law.

Last week, a report based on Israeli Tax Authority data suggested the UK may still be exporting F-35 parts directly to Israel – sparking questions among arms control experts that are expected to be raised in court.