Over 230 global civil society organisations have called on governments producing F-35 fighter jets to immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel, including the these jets. The F-35 jet programme partners include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and the US. On top of the letter, civil society organisations around the world have taken legal action to hold their governments accountable for the F-35 programme, and complicity in Israel’s crimes in Gaza. And in the UK, groups are calling on the Labour Party government to end its complicity now.
Israel: using F-35 jets with Western complicity
Israel has used these jets in its bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza. An F-35 was used in July 2024 to drop three 2,000 lb bombs in an attack on a so-called “safe zone” on Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, killing 90 Palestinians.
Despite all partners to the jets programme having legal obligations to halt arms exports to Israel, governments continue to allow the transfer of parts to Israel. Incoherent positions have been put forward by governments including stating that arms licences to Israel have been suspended while allowing transfers under existing licences or supplying “indirectly” via the US or other F-35 partners.
A global movement of legal cases taken by civil society has grown across countries in the F-35 programme, seeking to hold their government accountable for the transfer of jets and components to Israel. These include Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK.
The organisations, while welcoming the limited temporary ceasefire, say that the past 15 months have illustrated with devastating clarity that Israel is not committed to complying with international law. It is therefore inexcusable for our governments to continue to provide arms transfers to Israel, potentially implicating themselves in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In December 2024, Amnesty International’s investigation concluded that Israel has committed and is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and Human Rights Watch reported that ‘Israeli authorities are responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide’.
You can read the full letter on the supply of F-35 jets here.
International law must be complied with
Shawan Jabarin, General-Director of Al-Haq, said:
Israeli airstrikes, including the use of 2,000-pound bombs dropped from F-35 fighter jets, have devastated Gaza, repeatedly targeting densely populated areas, alleged “safe zones”, and even shelters for displaced Palestinians, during Israel’s ongoing genocidal onslaught. The overwhelming evidence of Israel’s grave violations of international law makes the F-35 partner nations—all of which are signatories to the Geneva Conventions, with the majority also having ratified the Arms Trade Treaty—complicit in these actions.
F-35 partner nations, including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have assessed Israel’s use of these jets and concluded that the risk of violations of International Humanitarian Law is significant enough to halt direct sales of key components. However, components continue to reach Israel indirectly, highlighting the urgent need for the entire F-35 programme to be brought into compliance with international law.
As Israel carries out its genocidal practices across the occupied Palestinian territory, with Palestinians in the West Bank subject to an ongoing, violent military onslaught and Gaza’s population still being attacked and denied essential aid despite a ceasefire, it is imperative that states uphold their binding duties under international law. They must collectively ensure that F-35 jets and components no longer reach Israel, halting further complicity in these international crimes.
Gearóid Ó Cuinn, Director of GLAN (Global Legal Action Network) which is supporting Al-Haq’s arms exports challenge in the UK, said:
This May the UK High Court will consider this controversial exemption for war plane parts. The UK Government’s position is that Israel can commit whatever depraved atrocity it pleases in Palestine, and nothing will stop the supply of British war plane components. In taking this indefensible position the UK Government has shamelessly put US interests and arms contracts above its own international legal obligations.
F-35 jets: enough is enough
Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, said:
It is unconscionable that the UK government continues to supply weapons that end up going to the Israeli government, especially for the F35 which has played a pivotal role in Israel’s brutal bombing campaign.
The government must close the loopholes and end its legal gymnastics- failure to do so displays either a misunderstanding of the government’s legal obligations or a wilful disregard for them.
Katie Fallon, Advocacy Manager at Campaign Against Arms Trade said:
The F-35 jet programme is emblematic of the West’s complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. These jets were instrumental in Israel’s 466 day bombardment of Gaza, in crimes that include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Since the limited ceasefire the US government, and lead partner to the F-35 programme, has threatened Gaza with mass ethnic cleansing and forced displacement. This programme gives material and political consent from all Western partners, including the UK, for these crimes to continue.
Featured image via the Canary
