UK to reassess arms sales to Israel amid ongoing legal challenge

Activists who filed a legal challenge against the UK government over the export of weapons to Israel, including F-35 fighter jet components, announced on Wednesday that the government has decided to review its position amid growing concerns over Israel’s military actions in Gaza, News.az reports citing foreign media.

The UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq issued a joint statement stating that the UK government has responded to their claims.

The government said they pledged to review the export of fighter jet components and other weapons to Israel.

"In response to our pre-action letter sent last week, the UK government has said it is reviewing its decision to allow the export of components for the F-35 warplane to a global pool which serves Israel and other direct arms export licences," the statement said.

This comes after the two campaign groups applied for an emergency high court injunction last week, following the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

In September, the UK government suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel following an internal review that identified a clear risk of misuse amid Israel's ongoing war on Gaza.

The suspension included the export of F-35 components from the UK to Israel. However, hundreds of arms export licenses to Israel are still operational.

At a High Court hearing on 18 November, the UK government acknowledged that the potential impact on the UK-US relationship influenced its decision to continue allowing some arms exports to Israel.

News.Az