Pictured: Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits BAE Systems, a manufacturer of F-35 parts in the UK.

• Appeal launched against F-35 export decision at the UK High Court 
• Court of Appeal will hear three of Al-Haq's grounds of appeal 
• Expedited oral hearing set for 9 October 2025 

21 August 2025: GLAN and Al-Haq announce appeal against the UK High Court’s judgment in their arms export challenge.  

In July, the UK High Court ruled that it was for parliament and not the court to decide whether the F-35 decision breaches the UK’s international legal obligations in the case Al-Haq vs. Secretary of State for Business and Trade. The challenge focused on the government’s ‘carve out’ decision for the British-made warplane parts, which effectively created a loophole allowing British-made weapons to be exported to Israel and used in Gaza. 

The Court of Appeal will hear three of Al-Haq's grounds of appeal in an expedited oral hearing on 9 October 2025. Permission applications are usually papers-based, but the Court of Appeal has decided that this case raises important legal questions and that the permission stage should be held in open court.  

Al-Haq and GLAN argue that the court’s ruling that it has no jurisdiction over the government’s decision raises serious constitutional questions and demonstrates a ‘glaring gap in accountability’. The first of the three appeal grounds will focus on this issue. 

In July, the court declined to pass judgment on the government’s genocide assessment and declined to rule on whether the government's decision to continue to supply Israel with parts for its lethal F-35 fighter jets through the global supply chain was consistent with its duty to prevent genocide. The second of the three appeal grounds will focus on this issue. GLAN and Al-Haq argue that the UK’s international legal obligations, such as the duty to prevent genocide, have been received into UK common law and must be considered when assessing the legality of the F-35 'carve out'. 

GLAN and Al-Haq will also appeal what they deem to be a mischaracterisation of their arguments in court. The High Court determined that the case required it to rule on the lawfulness of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, as a third state. GLAN and Al-Haq are appealing on grounds made clear in the case that they were not asking the court to rule on Israel’s actions and only required the court to apply international law using the UK Government’s own findings about Israel’s conduct — and, in the case of genocide, binding orders from the International Court of Justice which were delivered in January and May 2024, to assess whether the F-35 ‘carve out’ breaches the UK’s international legal obligations.  

Shawan Jabarin, Director of Al-Haq: “Israel is blatantly and openly starving, killing and forcibly displacing Palestinians in Gaza, in conditions it has manufactured to be unfit for human survival. If the UK courts are unwilling to hold the government accountable for arming Israel during the deadliest phase of its genocide to date, who will? The United Kingdom is bound by both domestic and international law, including the Genocide Convention, not to provide arms where there is a clear risk they could contribute to serious breaches of international humanitarian law or enable genocide. The court's findings set a dangerous precedent and risk undermining the legal mechanisms designed to ensure government accountability. We must appeal to stop states arming the genocide, for justice for the Palestinian people.” 

Gearóid Ó Cuinn, Director of GLAN: “We are proud to be supporting Al-Haq in their appeal. The UK government’s arming of Israel as it violates international law daily - before our eyes – cannot go unchallenged. The hearing on whether our appeal can proceed will be held in October, but Palestinians cannot wait a moment longer, the leaders of Israel have openly stated their intent to erase them from their land. The UK government is hiding behind the global F-35 parts pool, putting contracts with US weapons manufacturers ahead of fundamental obligations under international law to keep arming Israel. This must end. Tracing British parts, to stop them reaching Israel, is possible and it must be done urgently.”