Lawyers for the UK government have told the High Court that there is “no evidence” of Israel deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza.
During a case over the UK’s refusal to suspend the export of parts for the F-35 fighter jet programme, the legal team representing the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) stated that, in fact, evidence exists of “Israel making efforts to limit incidental harm to civilians”.
The Department is defending a case brought by human rights group Al-Haq over its continued participation in the US-led programme, which sees some of the fighters supplied to the IDF.
The UK does not sell any jets directly to Israel but does manufacture some of the parts critical to their production.
Al-Haq brought the case after the government announced in September it would partially suspend arms export licenses to Israel on the basis that there was a “clear risk” that the weapons would be used to violate international law.
The rights group argues that the F-35 programme should be included in the suspension, claiming that its exemption was not “consistent with the UK’s domestic and international legal obligations”, specifically with regard to the Geneva conventions, Genocide Convention and Arms Control Treaty.
Critics of the programme have alleged that the jets are used to target Palestinian civilians, with some even claiming that they are used in service of genocide.
However, in defending the case, the DBT’s lawyers argued that “a finding that Israel is not committed to comply with international humanitarian law does not necessarily indicate that it is harbouring genocidal intent”.
They also reiterated the government’s longstanding position that it is for the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is currently conducting hearings into accusations of genocide, to determine whether one is actually occurring.
Citing the fact that the ICJ had not returned a finding of plausible evidence that a genocide is taking place, they stated that the UK cannot violate its obligations under the Genocide Convention “unless and until there is actually a genocide”.
"The likelihood of UK-manufactured components being used in existing Israeli planes is very small, while the IDF is one of the most significant and well-equipped militaries in the world and, therefore, the impact of suspending F-35 components on operations in Gaza is likely to be minimal,” the lawyers added.
The hearing is set to conclude on May 16 and a decision is expected in writing at a later date.
