Al-Haq will, on 9 October 2025, at the Court of Appeal in London, continue its legal proceedings challenging the lawfulness of the United Kingdom’s continued licensing of weapons reaching the Israeli state even as it escalates its genocidal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and entrenches its annexationist settler colonial apartheid regime across all the occupied Palestinian territory and on both sides of the Green Line. Al-Haq’s appeal follows recognition by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, of the need for a full arms embargo against Israel arising from its unlawful occupation, apartheid and genocidal assault on Gaza.

Al-Haq’s historic, and long-running claim, initially launched in December 2023 against the UK government, concerns the UK’s continued licensing of F-35 parts into the global supply chain reaching Israel. The components exported from the UK supply Israel with the capacity to continue using its F-35 warplanes to commit international crimes including genocide. In September 2024 our legal challenge forced the UK to suspend direct weapons licenses to Israel that could be used in Gaza, however that action was undermined by an exception carved-out for F-35 parts.

In June 2025, the UK’s High Court issued a decision stating that it could not find any legal flaws in the British government’s decision-making process around the licensing of F-35 parts into the global supply, declining to rule on the UK government’s assessment of genocide, and holding that certain parts of the challenge were non-justiciable, meaning that they are not matters upon which the Courts had the authority to rule. This exposes a gap in the accountability framework, raising the question: to whom is the UK government accountable in matters of international law, and who ensures that its obligations under domestic law and the Geneva Conventions, including its duty to prevent genocide, are met?

The Court of Appeal will now 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 argues that the High 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. The second of the appeal grounds will demonstrate that the UK’s international legal obligations, including 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'.  A third ground of appeal challenges what we deem to be a mischaracterisation of their arguments in court. 

We call on all those in solidarity with Al-Haq and the Palestinian people to join us at the Court of Appeal in demanding an end to the UK’s exports of component parts to Israel, and to demand justice and accountability in the face of continuing silencing and sanctions.

#StopArming Israel

Recent Developments in Al-Haq’s Work:

• On 16 September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Read more

• On 4 September 2025, Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR were sanctioned by the US administration for engaging with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and have long faced harassment and intimidation for their efforts to hold Israeli leaders accountable for international crimes against the Palestinian people. Read more

• Read more on our other work on #StopArmingIsrael