NATIONS complicit in supplying Israel with lethal F-35 fighter jets must end their legal gymnastics and suspend exports immediately, campaigners said today.

F-35s have played a key role in Israel’s genocide, including dropping three 2,000lb bombs in a so-called safe zone in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, last year.

Parts for the jet are made under a global supply programme led by the US and including Britain, Australia, Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands.

As a “tier 1” partner in the programme, Britain provides around 15 per cent of each jet, with the government already facing legal action over exports.

But last year, despite admitting that there was a “clear risk” they could violate international law, the Ministry of Defence continued exports, claiming that a suspension would have a “profound impact on international peace and security.”

Similar legal cases are being pursued across multiple jurisdictions.

In a joint letter to partner nations, 230 organisations across the globe including Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch demanded a halt to exports.

“States have either been unwilling to observe their international legal obligations,” it says, “and/or claimed that the structure of the F-35 programme means that it is not possible to apply arms controls to any end-user, making the entire programme incompatible with international law.”

Al-Haq general director Shawan Jabarin said: “F-35 partner nations, including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have assessed Israel’s use of these jets and concluded that the risk of violations of international humanitarian law is significant enough to halt direct sales of key components. 

“However, components continue to reach Israel indirectly, highlighting the urgent need for the entire F-35 programme to be brought into compliance with international law.”

Human Rights Watch UK director Yasmine Ahmed said: “The government must close the loopholes and end its legal gymnastics — failure to do so displays either a misunderstanding of the government’s legal obligations or a wilful disregard for them.”

Marte Hansen Haugan, president of Norwegian campaign group Changemaker, said: “The unwillingness to halt or pause the production of F-35 components reflects an interpretation of national and international law that excludes Palestinian lives.”

Henry Off, of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights said: “In clear violation of its legal obligations, Canada continues to maintain its regulatory loopholes that allow components and parts to reach Israel’s F-35s indirectly through the United States.”