The Netherlands is currently no longer allowed to supply parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel. A court decided that. The reason: There is a risk that Israel would violate international humanitarian law.
According to a court ruling, the Netherlands must stop exporting parts of the F-35 fighter jet to Israel. The judges ruled that there was a clear risk of violations of international law through the delivery of the components.
They explained that Israel was using F-35 jets in its attacks on the Gaza Strip and that “the consequences for the civilian population were not sufficiently taken into account.” The export must therefore be completed within seven days. The decision can be appealed.
NGOs complain
Three human rights organizations filed a civil lawsuit against the Netherlands in December. They argue that authorities need to reevaluate the export permit for the jet components in light of Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip. According to her statement, the Netherlands could be complicit in war crimes by supplying aircraft parts.
The government initially won in a lower court in January. This meant that US-owned parts stored in the city of Woensdrecht could continue to be delivered to Israel. However, today judges at the Court of Appeal in The Hague overturned that ruling and ordered the government to halt exports within seven days.
This concerns F-35 parts that belong to the USA and are stored in the Netherlands. From the EU country, these are delivered to US partner countries such as Israel as part of export contracts.
“Risk of violations of international law”
“It is undeniable that there is a clear risk that the exported F-35 parts will be used for serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Judge Bas Boele as he read out the verdict.
Several people in the courtroom clapped. The government’s lawyers argued that a ban on the supply of F-35 parts from the Netherlands would be effectively meaningless because the US could also supply the parts from other countries.