THE HAGUE (Reuters) – 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 which might end up in Israel.
The case, started by rights groups including the Dutch arm of Oxfam, followed from 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 U.S. 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.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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