THE British government will return to court tomorrow to defend its continued sale of arms to Israel.

Palestinian rights group Al-Haq and the British-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) have brought the case to the High Court, challenging the government’s decision to continue supplying essential parts for lethal F-35 fighter jets.

Last September, the government had announced it would suspend 30 out of 350 arms exports.

But while the government claimed it would stop parts for F-35s from going directly to Israel, it said it remained committed to the global programme under which the components are made.

Court documents revealed in November that the government knew there was a “clear risk” that such parts could be used to violate international humanitarian law, but feared that halting their delivery could “undermine US confidence in the UK and Nato.”

GLAN and Al-Haq are calling for the parts to be tracked, arguing they could reach Israel via F-35 partner countries, thus breaking international and domestic law.

Last week, Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International and Workers for a Free Palestine reported that Britain has exported 160,000 military items to Israel since October 2023, most of which were sent after the partial ban on arms exports.

Al-Haq general director Shawan Jabarin said: “The UK government remains utterly complicit in its ongoing arms sales to Israel, which, emboldened by impunity, has escalated its genocide against the Palestinian people through a manufactured famine, an announcement for the mass forcible transfer of Gaza's entire population, and plans to seize and annex Palestinian territory in Gaza.

“Israel’s actions are not only an egregious breach of international law but also amount to genocide — and the UK’s complicity makes it also accountable.”

GLAN’s director Gearoid O Cuinn said: “In creating loopholes to keep Israel warplanes supplied, the UK government is not only fuelling atrocity crimes — it is running roughshod over UK law and sabotaging international law.

“Our message is clear: no loopholes or political calculation can justify complicity in the destruction of a people. 

“This case is about restoring the rule of law and reminding those in power that their decisions carry legal and moral consequences.”