The court ruled that the state must comply with the ruling within seven days and rejected a request by government lawyers to suspend the ruling pending an appeal to the Supreme Court
An appeals court in the Netherlands has ordered the government to suspend all exports of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel over concerns they are being used in violations of international law in Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
“It is undisputed that there is a clear risk that the exported parts will be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said.
The court ruled that the state must comply with the ruling within seven days and rejected a request by government lawyers to suspend the ruling pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Several human rights organizations — including the Dutch branch of Oxfam — sued the Dutch government last December.
Israel’s air and ground attacks on the densely populated Gaza Strip have killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas’ health ministry, and displaced more than 2.3 million residents.
Israel denies committing war crimes with its attacks on Gaza, which followed those by Hamas on October 7 that killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 240 hostages.
In a first ruling, a lower court had ruled that the fighters in question may contribute to violations of the laws of war but did not order the Dutch government to suspend exports.
He had announced that the state has a large degree of freedom to weigh political issues regarding its decision on weapons system exports.
That decision was overturned by the appeals court, which ruled that political and economic concerns did not overshadow the clear risk of violations of the laws of war.
The appeals court also announced that it is likely that the F-35s will be used in attacks on Gaza leading to unacceptable civilian casualties. In addition, it rejected the Dutch state’s argument that it does not need to act a new control on the export license.
The Netherlands hosts one of several regional depots for US-owned F-35 parts, from where the parts are shipped to countries that request them, including Israel in at least one shipment since the conflict began on October 7.
Source :Skai
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