Britain threatened with court-ordered ban on weapons exports to Israel

The case, brought by the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan) and human rights group Al-Haq against the business secretary, is scheduled to resume in the High Court on Monday.

When the challenge was launched last December, the groups argued that the UK should ban all arms exports due to a clear risk that Israel might use British-made weapons to violate international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip.

This September, after the newly elected Labour government suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel after a review showed a clear risk they could be used in such violations, the focus of the case shifted to UK-manufactured F-35 components, which can still be exported through third countries, with Israel as the final destination.

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.

The government announced it cannot suspend components exported through third countries without undermining the global F-35 programme, saying that tracking parts across the programme’s complex, 20-plus country supply chain is difficult.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has defended the decision, recently telling MPs that restricting the programme could have serious unintended consequences globally.

“I am not prepared to ground planes that are saving lives in other theatres, which is why we made this decision, and I stand by it. It was the right decision,” he stated on 29 October.

Glan and Al-Haq argue that the government has not properly reviewed its decision to exempt the parts from indirect export, nor developed red lines about what, if anything, would compell it to suspend them.

Had a thorough review been conducted, the groups say it would have determined that suspending all exports, directly or indirectly, was the only lawful option.

Such an assessment, they argue, is particularly critical given recent developments in northern Gaza, where 15 leaders of UN and humanitarian agencies warned on 1 November that the entire population “is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence”.

Earlier this week, lawyers for the groups gave the government until 4pm on Friday to reverse course on its F-35 “carve-out”.

If it does not comply, they say will seek a mandatory order from a judge which, if granted, would enforce a full suspension of UK arms exports to Israel as an investigation was carried out.

Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe, a lawyer with Glan, told Middle East Eye on Friday that they had imposed the deadline “due the the extreme urgency of the situation”.

She noted the General’s Plan, an Israeli strategy to ethnically cleanse northern Gaza which soldiers have been reported as saying is being carried out, and Israeli air strikes earlier this week that killed at least 40 people.

“British-made F-35s are playing a crucial role in that extermination campaign so that’s why the short deadline,” Andrews-Briscoe added.

The Department for Business and Trade declined to comment on the deadline on Friday, citing the ongoing legal case.

A Foreign Office spokesperson stated: “We have suspended relevant export licences to Israel for use in military operations in the Gaza conflict, following a review which concluded there is a clear risk that UK export items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.”

“We would not comment on ongoing or potential future legal proceedings.”

Amnesty and Human Rights Watch (HRW), which have intervened in the case and provided evidence to the government and the High Court of Israel’s lack of commitment to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, said on Friday that the government was long overdue to ban all arms exports to Israel.

“The Government is in court defending the indefensible,” Yasmine Ahmed, HRW’s UK director, said, adding, “International law is not discretionary and failing to adhere to it consistently not only risks the lives of innocent civilians, but weakens the entire system, not just in the Middle East but in Ukraine, Sudan and every other conflict.”

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said: “It should never have required a legal challenge to the Government over its arms to Israel policy, but if ministers won’t uphold international law of their own accord then there was little choice.

“Evidence of Israeli war crimes and other violations in Gaza and the West Bank is overwhelming. All UK arms transfers to Israel need to be halted immediately – with no exemptions and no loopholes,” Deshmukh added.

Monday’s hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am.