GLAN and Palestinian human rights organisation, Al-Haq, are challenging the export of weapons to Israel for use in Gaza. 

In particular, we are challenging the Government’s decision to continue granting licences for F35 fighter jet components, even though it admits that there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used to violate International Humanitarian Law. The case has been ongoing since December 2023 but this new fundraiser is needed because the case has reached its critical, final stage: the High Court has now set a date for the trial; for four days starting on 12 May 2025.   

We urgently need to build a groundswell of support to get this case over the line in this final push. We must send a clear message to government: complicity in war crimes and other atrocity crimes including genocide, is unlawful.   

Israel’s long and brutal military assault on Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, wounded over 97,000 others, displaced almost 2.3 million men, women and children and brought them to the brink of famine. This has been made possible in part by British weapons manufacturers who have supplied arms, ammunition and key components to build war planes. 

In the first phase of the case, GLAN and Al-Haq were able to apply enough pressure to force the government to halt export licenses for weapons to Israel that were being used against the Palestinian people in Gaza. This was because, after 11 months of this litigation, the government finally assessed that there was a “clear risk” that such weapons might be used to violate International Humanitarian Law.  

At a hearing on 18 November 2024, the Government admitted in open court that “Israel is not committed to complying with International Humanitarian Law.” 

Despite these shocking assessments, the Government decided to continue granting licences for F-35 fighter jet parts. It says that stopping the licences would be damaging to international peace and security. The Government say that these ‘exceptional circumstances’ are a ‘good reason’ not to follow national licensing criteria for exporting weapons – and international legal obligations. It’s this decision that the case now focuses on.  

The Government says that the interests of international peace and security is a “matter of such gravity that it would have overridden any [...] further evidence of serious breaches of IHL”. We don’t accept this. We told the government at a hearing on 31 January 2025 that “national security considerations cannot trump genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.” The government is effectively saying that there is no red line when it comes to the supply of F-35 components – in other words, no amount of suffering or war crimes would make them stop supplying them.   

This new phase of GLAN and Al-Haq's claim comes at a time where a fragile and temporary ceasefire has seen a calming of the assaults on Gaza, but now is the time to keep up the pressure.  

This case is about ensuring that Britain complies by its own policies on the export of weapons and does not contribute to war crimes or breaches of International Humanitarian Law.  

We cannot get this case over the line without your help.