UK High Court granted Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam permission to join a legal bid to halt UK arms sales to Israel, in a decision made Thursday. The case was originally brought by Al-Haq and GLAN in December 2023. They are calling on the High Court to order the Business and Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, to immediately suspend all licenses to export weapons and other military equipment to Israel and to stop issuing new ones.
The case was originally brought after the International Court of Justice found that Israel may be committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The High Court initially dismissed the case in February, but an appeal was filed and a hearing granted. A House of Commons research briefing on the topic stressed that the UK does not directly sell arms to Israel, rather it grants licenses for companies to do so. These licenses are assessed on a case-by-case basis, using using criteria that include the UK’s obligations under international law and if there is clear risk that the items may be used to “commit or facilitate” a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps, said in December that UK defense exports to Israel are “relatively small,” amounting to £574 million since 2008, which is only 0.02 percent of Israel’s military imports. The UK government has responded to concerns by emphasizing Israel’s right to self-defence within the boundaries of international law and the strategic export licensing system.
The UK government has issued 108 new arms export licenses for Israel between the October 7th attacks and May 31st, 37 of which were military and 63 which were non-military but including equipment for use by the Israeli army. 345 licenses to sell arms to Israel are currently active, and no applications have been rejected or revoked since October. Foreign Secretary David Cameron allowed exports to continue two days after seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed.
The largest UK opposition parties—Labour, Scottish National Party, Liberal Democrats, Sinn Féin and Plaid Cymru—have all supported the suspension of arms sales. A letter signed by 613 British legal professionals, including former president of the Supreme Court Baroness Hale and two other former Supreme Court justices, said that the UK is obligated to “employ all means reasonably available to them” to prevent genocide, a recognized peremptory norm of international law.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam will all be able to present evidence in this judicial review. The case is expected to be heard in October.
