What role does the UK play in the production of the F-35?

Britain’s decision to suspend 30 arms exports to Israel in light of the ongoing war on Gaza has provoked strong reactions, as parts of the F-35, which are believed to be among the aircraft being delivered to Israel and bombing the enclave, are exempt from the suspension.

Israel, whose air force has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7, has 36 of the jets and plans to acquire more in the coming years to expand its F-35 fleet to 75 jets.

According to Danish publication information According to an investigation by the NGO Danwatch and the Israeli army, Israeli F-35 fighter jets were used in a strike that killed Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, but the group denied that the commander was assassinated.

At least 90 people were killed and another 300 injured in the attempt to eliminate Deif on July 13, according to the Gaza Health Ministry; the non-governmental organization Airwars confirmed the death toll at 57.

Why did Britain exclude the F-35?

Fearing that Israel could violate international humanitarian law by using weapons from the West in the Gaza war, a Dutch court ordered a ban on the supply of F-35 components to Israel in February.

Great Britain supplies 15 percent of the components of the F-35, a latest generation fighter aircraft.

With numerous variants of the F-35 in service with various air forces around the world, it is unclear whether the Israeli-operated aircraft used British-made components or whether they were used in the Gaza attacks. However, the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) said this was “almost certain”.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in his speech in the House of Commons: “Suspension of all licences for the F-35 programme would jeopardise the global supply chain for the F-35, which is vital to the security of the UK, our allies and NATO.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) summary of the decision to suspend the 30 licences states that it is difficult to assess how Israel is conducting its hostilities in the Gaza Strip, to which the F-35 case is related.

“This is due in part to the opaque and contested intelligence situation in Gaza and the difficulties encountered in accessing the necessary specific and sensitive information from Israel, such as intended targets and expected harm to the civilian population,” it said.

It claims that Hamas is embedded in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure, which makes it “difficult” to assess the matter, but the group denies this.

In a statement to The new ArabThe Ministry of Defence said that the UK contributes to a global pool of spare parts as part of the F-35 programme and that no parts are supplied directly to Israel, although a suspension of deliveries to Israel would jeopardise the overall programme.

“No effort was made to deprive Israel of its instruments of genocide”

The International Center for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said the ban “does not go nearly far enough and comes far too late since Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip.”

“In particular, the decision to continue exporting parts for F-35 aircraft means that he is wary of depriving Israel of its genocidal tools,” the ICJP added.

Meanwhile, CAAT commented: “There is nothing preventing the government from simply removing Israel from the list of approved recipients of the Open General License.”

Eighteen UK-based charities, including Medical Aid for Palestinians, Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK, signed a joint statement calling for an end to all arms supplies to Israel, particularly highlighting the exemption for the F-35.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign also called on the government to “end the export of F-35 components for aircraft that are then sold to Israel,” with several MPs joining in this call.

Labour MP Zarah Sultana called for a complete embargo on British arms to Israel, saying: “We should not just ban a small proportion of arms licenses to Israel.”

The new Independent Alliance parliamentary group, consisting of Jeremy Corbyn and four other newly elected independent pro-Gaza politicians, also condemned the incident in a statement.

“This announcement must be the first step towards ending all arms deliveries to Israel. This includes parts of the F-35 fighter jets used by the Israeli military to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip.”

Israel’s war against Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 2023, has killed 40,819 people and injured another 94,291.