The Dutch Court of Appeal on Monday ordered the state to block all exports. Spare parts for F-35 fighters to Israel, fearing that they would be used in violation of international law during the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.

“It cannot be denied that there is a clear risk that exported F-35 parts will be used in serious violations of international law humanitarian,” the court said.

He said that the state had to complete the order within seven days and rejected state prosecutors’ request to stay enforcement of the order during an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Several human rights groups have filed a lawsuit against the Dutch state. among them the Dutch branch of Oxfam, in December last year.

Massive Israeli air and ground offensive in the densely populated Gaza Strip killed more than 28,000 Palestiniansand forced most of its 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, according to the enclave’s health authorities.

Israel denies committing war crimes in the attacks on the Gaza Strip, which follow Hamas’ cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, which Israeli estimates left 1,200 Israelis killed and about 240 taken hostage.

In the first ruling, the lower court did not have time to order the Dutch state to stop exportingalthough he said the F-35 would likely facilitate violations of the laws of war.

This lower court stated that The state enjoyed a wide degree of freedom when weighing political and regulatory issues when deciding whether to export arms.

The Court of Appeal rejected this claim, saying that political and economic considerations could not outweigh the obvious risk violation of the laws of war.

Moreover, the Court of Appeal held that it was It is likely that F-35s were used in attacks on the Gaza Strip. which will result in unacceptable civilian casualties. He rejected the Dutch state’s argument that it did not need to carry out a new export authorization check.

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The Netherlands is home to one of several regional F-35 parts warehouses. US property from where the parts are distributed to countries that request them, including Israel in at least one shipment since the Oct. 7 attacks.

(Reuters)