Despite claims of suspended arms licenses, the UK continues to supply thousands of arms shipments used in the z*onist colony F-35 warplanes during attacks on Gaza.

The UK High Court ruled on 30 June to reject a legal challenge seeking to stop the export of British-made F-35 fighter jet parts to the zionist entity, ending a 20-month legal battle.

The case, brought by the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, argued that the exports risked enabling serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.

In their 72-page ruling, Lord Justice Stephen Males and Mrs Justice Karen Steyn said the matter concerned “whether the UK must withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration,” and concluded that such decisions fall under the remit of the executive.

“Under our constitution that acutely sensitive and political issue is a matter for the executive which is democratically accountable to Parliament and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts,” the judges wrote.

Yasmine Ahmed, UK director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said the ruling had left Palestinians in Gaza without legal protection.

“Judicial deference to the executive in this case has left the Palestinians in Gaza without access to the protections of international law,” she said. “The atrocities we are witnessing in Gaza are precisely because governments do not think the rules should apply to them.”

The challenge was initially filed in October 2023, weeks after Israel began its assault on Gaza.

Despite concerns flagged by the Foreign Office as early as November that year, the UK government allowed arms exports to continue.

In September 2024, the Labour government suspended 30 licenses but deliberately carved out an exemption for F-35 parts sent via a shared global pool. UK components make up 15 percent of each F-35. Israel has heavily used these jets in attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, and, more recently, Iran.

The government claimed that halting exports would disrupt the entire international fleet and jeopardize global security.

In January 2025, the High Court agreed to hear the case. “The F-35 carve-out decision is one of considerable public importance,” Justice Martin Chamberlain said at the time.

Canadian watchdog Project Ploughshares reported that the UK had delivered more than $6.7 billion worth of F-35 components to the US-led program.

According to Dr Iain Overton of Action on Armed Violence, “British-made components are helping keep Israeli F-35s operational, and the refusal to restrict their supply undermines international arms control efforts.”

Similar challenges have failed in other European states. On 15 December 2023, a Dutch court dismissed a lawsuit to stop the export of F-35 parts, citing the political nature of arms decisions.

“There is no reason to assume that Israel will stop excessive violence against the civilian population in Gaza,” the Dutch plaintiffs warned at the time.

Weapons factories across the UK that produce F-35 components have seen repeated shutdowns by demonstrators. In December, Belgian transport unions refused to transfer weapons to Israel.

“Genocide is in the making,” the Dutch lawyers told the court.

The Cradle Media report

UK military jets damaged by pro-Palestinian group – POLITICO report.

The group said it had used e-scooters to get across the airbase, before using repurposed fire extinguishers to spray paint and crowbars to cause further damage.