On Wednesday, 12 November, the Court of Appeal in London rejected our request for an appeal in the long-running claim, initially launched in December 2023 against the UK government, concerning the UK’s continued licensing of F-35 parts into the global supply chain reaching Israel. Our request for appeal concerned the High Court judgment, in which the Court declined to rule on the UK government’s assessment of genocide, stating that parts of the legal challenge are not for the courts to decide, but rather the responsibility of the executive, which is held accountable by parliament and the electorate.

While today’s outcome is not what we hoped for, our commitment to holding all perpetrators of violations committed against the Palestinian people accountable remains unwavering. This long-running case has had a far-reaching impact throughout its course, including contributing to the government’s partial suspension of direct arms exports to Israel and compelling the UK Government to disclose information underlying its decisions on the partial revocation of arms licences in ongoing litigation.

The genocide in Gaza is not over, and through its continued provision of essential F-35 parts to Israel, the UK continues to be complicit in the genocide. Since the so-called "ceasefire" which should have come into effect on 10 October, Israel has killed 242 Palestinians and injured over 600 more, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. Israel has also continued to obstruct aid into Gaza, further denying a population that has been starved and deprived of essential supplies needed for survival for over two years and destroyed over 1500 buildings.

Beyond this case, the International Court of Justice made it clear in its July 2024 Advisory Opinion: All states are 'under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory'. Through its ongoing political, economic and military relations with Israel, the UK government is contributing to the maintenance of the unlawful situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in addition to facilitating the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

These UK proceedings, as with recent decisions in the Dutch courts, have turned to a significant extent on the existence of an accountability gap, where national courts have declared Al-Haq’s legal challenges to be non-justiciable. In effect, national courts are acknowledging that while the state is bound by international legal obligations to uphold fundamental human rights in their trade and other relationships with Israel, these courts signal that they are disempowered from ruling on potential state breaches of these legal obligations. The practical consequence of such findings is to render governments’ conduct in the sphere of ‘foreign relations’ free from legal oversight, subject to no meaningful checks or balances.

The judgement characterises the UK Government’s position as being that the reasons for the F-35 Carve Out (i.e., that suspending licences for the supply of F-35 components would have a negative impact on international peace and security) would outweigh the risks of Israel not complying with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), whatever the risks associated with Israel not complying with IHL were. In our view, this demonstrates how rendering state conduct non-justiciable facilitates the de facto legalisation of government decisions which prioritise the supply of weapons (in the name of international peace and security), regardless of the scale or nature of the actual consequential violations of international law, including violations of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.

The accountability gap further revealed by today’s decision evidences a serious flaw in the interpretation and application of binding legal obligations in national court systems. While today’s judgment makes clear that the UK Government maintains that its F-35 carve-out decision – an exceptional decision, taken entirely outside of its policy on licensing weapons – is compatible with international law, the courts have not determined that this is in fact the case, but have rather confirmed that they are unable to make such a determination.

The issues at the heart of this case are larger than any single court judgment, and we will continue to push for change through every available avenue. Contrary to the Court’s conclusion, that ‘it would be wrong to grant permission to appeal because of an academic interest in points of domestic constitutional law and public international law’, the issues Al-Haq sought to raise in this Appeal have an immediate and irredeemable impact on the human rights of Palestinians subject to ongoing genocide, and remain of the utmost significance to the very concept of the rule of law.

Despite the decision of the court to deem this issue as non-justiciable, the UK government still has a clear obligation under international law to prevent genocide and atrocity crimes.

We are calling on MPs to take the following actions:

1. Demand to see the last assessment of Israel’s compliance with IHL and know with what methodology it was undertaken. We only have a summary of their assessment published in September 2024 - the genocide has continued brutally for nine months since;

2. Demand transparency from the government over their assessments and decisions regarding Israel's actions in Gaza. All relevant documents must be disclosed;

3. Demand to know what proactive steps this government is taking to uphold its duty to prevent genocide, given the ICJ ruling of plausible genocide and the ICC's arrest warrants issued for Israeli leaders;

4. Demand to know what the government has done to overcome ‘obstacles’ to exclude British-made parts from serving Israel in the global F-35 spares pool;

5. Demand that the Government’s decision to continue the supply of weapons to Israel be put to a democratic process.

We are deeply grateful for all those who supported this case and the solidarity shown by so many throughout this process. We will continue in our struggle for accountability and justice for the Palestinian people, using every means at our disposal.