London court rejects suspending arms exports to Israel

LONDON

The London High Court rejected a petition to suspend British arms exports to Israel, the lawyers for the plaintiffs said on Tuesday.

A coalition of legal advocacy groups had asked the High Court in January to expedite a judicial review of the U.K. government's decision to keep selling military parts and arms to Israel.

Britain's strategic licensing criteria states that weapons should not be exported when there is a clear risk they could be used in international humanitarian law violations.

The court claimants, led by Palestinian rights group Al-Haq and including the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), argued that the government was ignoring its own rules in the Gaza conflict.

But the court ruled against the measure, the lawyers said in a statement to AFP on Tuesday, adding that they would appeal the decision.

Pro-Palestinian groups have brought several court cases seeking to stop arms exports to Israel amid the rising toll in the Gaza Strip.

In mid-February the Appeals Court in The Hague ruled that the Netherlands must stop delivering parts for F-35 fighter jets used by Israel in the Gaza Strip as there was a "clear risk" the planes would be involved in breaking international humanitarian law.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 29,195 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.