LONDON

A Palestinian human rights organization has urged appeal judges in London to allow it to challenge a High Court decision dismissing its legal bid over the export of fighter jet parts from the UK.

Al-Haq brought the case after the British government decided to exempt some export licenses for components used in F-35 fighter jets—aircraft that are part of an international defense program involving several allied nations, including the US and Israel.

The group argued that this “carve-out” placed the UK in breach of its international obligations by allowing the continued export of parts potentially used in Israel’s military operations.

However, in June, two High Court judges dismissed the claim. Al-Haq has now asked the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision.

New customs data indicate that the value of UK arms exports to Israel reached a record high in June 2025, with September ranking as the second-highest month on record, despite the UK government's partial suspension of some export licenses.

As of July, the ruling Labour government still maintains more than 300 arms export licenses with Israel, Channel 4 said in its exclusive report.

The Home Office opposes the bid for an appeal, arguing that Al-Haq’s case has “no real prospect of success.”

In written submissions, Sir James Eadie KC, representing the department, said the issues had already been “dealt with comprehensively” by the High Court and that “there is a need for finality.”

He added that none of the alternative reasons Al-Haq had presented “comes close to demonstrating ‘compelling reasons’” for allowing the appeal to proceed. “The fact that matters of broader public interest may be engaged is insufficient,” Eadie wrote.

Representing the organization, Zac Sammour told the court that the challenge related to a decision made entirely within the UK’s jurisdiction.

“The decision that is under challenge here, the F-35 carve-out, is not a decision that relates to a failure by the UK to take some step outside of its jurisdiction with regard to Israel or any other state,” Sammour said.

“It is a decision taken by somebody in London with respect to weapons in the UK, which concerns the question of whether or not weapons in the UK will be sent outside.”

The hearing before Lady Justice King, Lady Justice Whipple, and Lord Justice Dingemans is set to conclude on Thursday, with a decision expected in a couple of weeks.

The UK government announced in September 2024 that it had suspended 29 licenses to export arms to Israel, which it believed “might be used in serious violations of International Humanitarian Law.”

At the time, the government said it was blocking the sale of “items used in the current conflict in Gaza that go to the Israeli army."

Meanwhile, on Trump's ceasefire plan for Gaza, Al-Haq spokesperson Zainah El-Haroun also told Anadolu: “Honestly, we always treat ceasefire news with skepticism, because Israel has a track record of breaking ceasefires. Of course, we welcome any genuine ceasefire, but we also caution against anything that doesn’t respect the Palestinian right to self-determination.

"Without addressing the root causes of the Palestinian struggle, which is the right to self-determination and return, there’ll be no real solution to end all of this."

The Israeli army continued airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday despite a ceasefire agreement to end a 2-year deadly war in the Palestinian enclave, medics and witnesses said on Thursday.

Arab and Muslim countries have welcomed the plan, but some officials have said that many details in it need discussion and negotiations to be fully implemented.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has left Gaza largely uninhabitable, leading to widespread starvation and disease.