A Dutch court has ruled that all exports of F-35 parts from the Netherlands to Israel must stop within 7 days.

The court announced that there is a clear risk that the exported parts will be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law.

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.

#BREAKING Dutch court orders halt to export of F-35 jet parts to Israel

A Dutch appeals court ordered the Dutch government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel within seven days. pic.twitter.com/SgdicXVwXD

— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 12, 2024

Several human rights organizations – among them the Dutch branch of Oxfam – appealed last December against the Dutch government.

Israel denies committing war crimes with its attacks on Gaza, which followed those by Hamas on October 7 killing 1,200 Israelis and taking about 240 hostages.

In an earlier ruling, a lower court had ruled that the F-35s likely contributed to violations of the laws of war, but did not order the Dutch government to suspend exports. It had announced that the state has a large degree of freedom to weigh political issues regarding its decision on weapon system exports.

That decision was overturned by the appellate court, which ruled that political and economic concerns did not overshadow the clear risk of violations of the laws of war.

The appellate court also announced that it is likely that the F-35s will be used in attacks on Gaza leading to unacceptable civilian casualties. Moreover, it rejected the Dutch state’s argument that there is no need to conduct a new check on export licenses.

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.

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