•  The UK government must be forced to fulfill its obligations under international and domestic law, says Shawan Jabarin, head of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq
• ‘We hope and we wish that the judges will act according to their legal and human conscience,’ Jabarin tells Anadolu

LONDON 

As the UK government faces a High Court case over the export of F-35 jet parts used by Israel, the groups behind the legal challenge say their main aim is to force Britain to respect its legal obligations.

The case filed by Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Palestinian rights organization Al-Haq accuses the British government of failing to uphold its domestic and international legal obligations by supplying weapons and components used in Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.

It centers on the UK’s continued export of components for the US-manufactured F-35 fighter jet, but demands the immediate suspension of all UK arms export licenses to Israel, citing the “clear risk” that such exports are being used to facilitate violations of international law, including potential war crimes and genocide.

“Our call is that F-35s are used in genocide in Gaza, the killings of civilians in Gaza, and it’s time to stop arming, assisting and aiding the crimes going on in Palestine,” Shawan Jabarin, director of Al-Haq, told Anadolu outside the courthouse in London where a four-day hearing commenced on Tuesday.

The legal case has gained widespread support from leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Oxfam. These groups argue that UK arms sales to Israel must cease immediately, particularly in light of the F-35 program’s central role in the assault on Gaza.

In September 2024, following an internal review, the British government announced a partial suspension of 30 out of 350 active arms export licenses to Israel. The suspended licenses included components for drones, military aircraft, and ground targeting systems, but excluded F-35 fighter jet parts.

However, the UK exported over 8,000 munitions and weapons components to Israel between September 2024 and March 2025, even after announcing its partial suspension of licenses, according to a report by Progressive International, the Palestine Youth Movement, and Workers for a Free Palestine.  

Legal obligations

As critics condemn the selective suspension, UK government lawyers have defended the decision to continue licensing F-35 components, arguing in a previous January hearing that there is no conclusive evidence linking these parts to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories or alleged acts of genocide in Gaza.

Defense Secretary John Healey said that revoking F-35 licenses would disrupt the wider multinational F-35 program and potentially undermine NATO security.

In internal government correspondence cited in court documents, Healey wrote: “Such a suspension of F-35 licensing leading to the consequent disruption for partner aircraft, even for a brief period, would have a profound impact on international peace and security.”

The government has also argued that the “vast majority” of remaining arms export licenses are not for the Israeli army but for “civilian purposes or re-export.”

Jabarin, however, emphasized that both international and domestic law require the UK to stop exporting arms when there is a risk they will be used in the commission of international crimes.

“Our call to the court is that the UK government has an obligation under the international law. They have to respect their responsibility and their obligations. They don’t act according to these standards,” he said.

“The UK’s domestic law says that you can’t help, you can’t assist in a place where … war crimes, crimes against humanity are being committed.”

The Al-Haq official urged the High Court to uphold legal and moral principles: “We hope and we wish that the judges will act according to their legal and the human conscience.”