Dutch court rejects request to ban export of aircraft parts that could reach Israel

A Dutch court on Friday rejected a demand by rights groups to order the Netherlands to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts that might end up in Israel.

The case, started by rights groups including the Dutch arm of Oxfam, followed by another district court ruling in February that the Netherlands cannot send F-35 parts to Israel over concerns the planes jets could be involved in breaking international humanitarian law in the war in Gaza.

The NGOs had claimed that the Dutch state stopped the direct export of parts to Israel but continued to deliver fighter jet parts to the US and other countries. 

Those parts could then be sent on or used in planes destined for Israel and that should also be stopped under the earlier order.

However, The Hague district court said in a press release that the NGOs' interpretation of the February ruling was too broad and the Dutch state was complying with the export ban as ordered.

Reuters