UK Government in High Court challenge over arms sales to Israel
The long-awaited case, which starts on Tuesday, will judge whether ministers have broken the law by continuing to supply parts for the F-35 programme.
It will last for four days and has been brought by Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, but is also supported by a series of UK human rights groups including Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, and the Global Legal Action Network (Glan).
READ MORE: Gaza at critical risk of famine if Israel doesn't end blockade, experts warn
In September, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of around 30 arms sale licences to Israel as the UK Government concluded there was a 'clear risk' that some exports 'might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law'.
However, last week The National reported how UK firms have exported thousands of military items to Israel despite the ban, according to new analysis of Israeli import data.
MPs have also continued to raise concerns about the UK's export of parts used in F-35 fighter jets which Israel have utilised in airstrikes on Gaza.
In response to the hearings, Amelia Whitworth from Plan International UK, who are also supporting the case, said: 'The UK Government's complicity in Israel's war crimes and slaughter of Palestinian people is shamefully clear.
"British manufactured parts continue to play an integral role in Israel's attacks against Gaza's hospitals and refugee camps in the most flagrant violations of international humanitarian law. Until the ongoing sale of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel stops, the UK has blood on its hands.
'We know from working with local partners that the situation for children in Gaza is now at its most desperate: they are starving, sick and utterly traumatised, enduring horrors beyond all comprehension.
'The UK Government must immediately stop selling fighter jet parts to Israel and hold the Government of Israel accountable for its blatant disregard of International Humanitarian Law. Israel's illegal and lethal blockade of humanitarian aid must also be lifted without delay, before thousands more starve to death.
'No child should ever have to live through such tragedy. The world cannot stand by as Israel deliberately starves and kills Palestinian children and their families.'
Meanwhile, Shawan Jabarin, Al-Haq general director, added: 'The UK Government remains utterly complicit in its ongoing arms sales to Israel, which, emboldened by impunity, has escalated its genocide against the Palestinian people through a manufactured famine, an announcement for the mass forcible transfer of Gaza's entire population, and plans to seize and annex Palestinian territory in Gaza. Israel's actions are not only an egregious breach of international law but also amount to genocide—and the UK's complicity makes it also accountable.'
The director of Glan, Gearóid Ó Cuinn, said: 'In creating loopholes to keep Israel warplanes supplied the UK Government is not only fuelling atrocity crimes—it is running roughshod over UK law and sabotaging international law.
"Our message is clear: no loopholes or political calculation can justify complicity in the destruction of a people. This case is about restoring the rule of law and reminding those in power that their decisions carry legal and moral consequences.'
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