Oxfam to participate in High Court legal battle over UK weapons exports to Israel
International poverty relief charity Oxfam has been allowed to participate in a High Court battle over the UK's role in allowing weapons to be sent to Israel for use in Gaza.
The legal challenge, brought against the Department for Business and Trade after it chose not to suspend the export of weapons and military equipment licenses, was originally mooted by Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq.
Group lawyers have told the High Court that the government is acting unlawfully and is wrong to continue licensing arms to Israel.
Officials from the business and trade department have contested that its decisions "have at all times been lawful and, in particular, rational".
Lawyers for Oxfam, Amnesty International UK and Human Rights Watch have made bids to intervene in the case that is scheduled for October.
The leading judge, Mrs Justice Farby, ruled that Oxfam will be allowed to provide written and oral arguments to the hearing in autumn.
She said: “Oxfam’s evidence is ready, concise and targeted at matters that concern its own experience as a humanitarian organisation operating in Gaza.”
The ruling was welcomed by Oxfam’s chief executive Halima Begum.
She said: “As an agency working on the ground in Gaza, we’ve witnessed first-hand the devastation the Israeli military has caused to families in Gaza and to vital infrastructures.
“Oxfam has been systematically prevented from getting life-saving aid into the enclave, and our staff and partners face a constant threat to their lives while trying to sustain basic humanitarian operations.
“We strongly urge the government to suspend all arms licences to Israel immediately and, instead, use all the diplomatic leverage it has to push for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, to end the death and destruction and ensure the safe release of hostages.”
Mrs Justice Farbey also said Amnesty and Human Rights Watch could provide written evidence to the court.
Yasmine Ahmed, UK director of Human Rights Watch, said: “We welcome the court’s decision to allow Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to intervene with key evidence in this critical case.
“In the face of Israel’s ongoing crimes in Gaza, the UK government presents the nonsensical argument that it is lawful to continue sending arms to Israel on the basis that Israel is committed to complying with international law. Our evidence shows the exact opposite.”
She added: “While this decision is of course welcome, it is a sorry state of affairs that the case even needed to be brought. We shouldn’t have to drag ministers in front of judges to have them comply with their own laws.”
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