Dutch court demands a stop to Dutch exports of F-35 jet parts to Israel

A Dutch appeals court has ruled that the government must halt the delivery of F-35 fighter aircraft parts to Israel as there are concerns that these parts are being used to violate international law. The court supported human rights groups who argued that the parts supplied from a Dutch warehouse were contributing to Israel's violations in Gaza. Israel denies committing war crimes, but the Hamas-run health ministry claims that over 28,100 Palestinians have been killed in the past four months. Israel launched operations in Gaza after Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 253 individuals hostage. The Appeals Court in The Hague stated that there is an undeniable risk that the exported F-35 parts are used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law. The court also criticized Israel for not taking the civilian population's consequences into account during its attacks. The Dutch government has seven days to comply with the court order, but it has the option to appeal to the Supreme Court. The case was filed by various groups, including Oxfam's Dutch affiliate, in December. This was prompted by the Dutch government's decision to allow the export of F-35 parts to Israel despite the siege on Gaza. A lower court previously ruled that exporting the parts was primarily a political decision that judges should not intervene in, even though it acknowledged that F-35s likely contributed to violations of the laws of war. The F-35 parts, owned by the US, are stored in a Dutch warehouse and then shipped to other countries, including Israel. In a separate case, the International Court of Justice recently ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza following a request from South Africa. Israel has rejected this accusation as baseless.