Exclusive: As Israel uses F-35 fighter jets to bomb Iran and Gaza, we reveal parts for these warplanes were transported via London last month.
Fighter jet components were transported via London Stansted airport to Israel last month, shipping documents seen by Declassified and The Ditch indicate.
The documents show how parts were shipped from the US by Lockheed Martin, an arms giant and the prime contractor in the F-35 fighter jet programme.
They passed through London Stansted Airport between 21 and 27 May before being sent on to “F-35 Israel Site Base 28” in Nevatim airbase, which houses Israel’s squadrons of fighter jets.
F-35s were deployed during Israel’s recent airstrikes on Iran, with the US and Israel altering the warplanes “to extend their range without the need for refuelling or compromising on stealth”.
They have also been used to commit war crimes in Gaza, including a devastating attack last year on the designated safe zone of Al-Mawasi, killing 90 people and injuring over 300 more.
The UK government suspended direct exports of F-35 parts to Israel last year but claimed it was not able to stop UK-made components being sent to Israel via third countries.
British ministers have said that stopping all F-35 exports would endanger “international peace and security” and suggested that Israel needs the advanced aircraft to “defend” itself against Iran.
Britain’s trade department further claimed it was not possible to track UK-made parts once they had entered global spares pools and stop them from being exported to Israel.
But the documents obtained by Declassified and The Ditch suggest it is possible to track shipments of F-35 components to Israel – including those passing through UK territory.
They further indicate how Britain continues to facilitate the F-35 supply chain to Israel even after the September arms restrictions, a finding which could implicate ministers in war crimes.
Jeremy Corbyn MP told Declassified: “Every day, we learn more and more about the true depths of UK complicity in war crimes.
“We must never lose sight of the fact that human beings are being torn apart and killed by F-35 jets – human beings who deserve to live a full life of happiness and peace like anyone else.
“The government is doing everything it can to avoid a full, independent, public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza. This damning revelation helps to explain why. Momentum is shifting – we will expose the truth, and we will bring about justice for the Palestinian people”.
Arms to Israel
Shipping records show the items were transferred from Oklahoma to Memphis airport in Tennessee on 20 May.
They arrived the next day in London Stansted airport, where they were held for six days due to a “clearance delay”.
It is unclear whether the delay was caused by concerns over the legal ramifications of shipping fighter jet parts to Israel through British territory.
The items were then transported through Paris and Cologne before arriving in Tel Aviv on 29 May. After this, they were transferred on land to “F-35 site base 28” in Nevatim airbase, in Israel’s Negev desert, arriving on 5 June.
Nevatim airbase was listed as the destination of the shipments from the moment they were dispatched from the US, indicating that the UK authorities cannot claim they did not know where they were going.
Dearbhla Minogue, a senior lawyer at Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), told Declassified: “’Any decision by the UK authorities to permit the transfer of parts to Israel through a UK airport risks deepening ministers’ exposure to criminal prosecution.
“They say themselves that there is a ‘clear risk’ that Israel is going to use F-35s to commit serious violations of international law, which are war crimes. They should urgently confirm that any further transfers are prohibited”.
Declassified asked the UK’s Department for Business and Trade how F-35 parts for Israel could be allowed to transit through one of London’s largest airports.
A spokesperson said: “As we have set out to Parliament, it is not currently possible to suspend licensing of F-35 components for use by Israel without prejudicing the entire global programme, which would have serious implications for international peace and security due to its crucial strategic role in the defence of NATO and other UK allies.
“We have suspended direct exports of F-35 components for use by Israel, and where UK-produced parts go to the global spares pool, Israel operates a small proportion of over 1,000 F-35s in the global fleet”.
Lockheed Martin did not respond to several requests for comment.
F-35 jets
Declassified and The Ditch revealed last year that F-35 components had been sent directly to Israel from a British airbase 14 times between October 2023 and August 2024.
The UK government suspended direct exports of F-35 parts to Tel Aviv in September 2024 but continued to allow UK-made parts to be sent to global spares pools which supply Israel.
This decision was subject to a legal challenge last month by Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq with support from GLAN.
The Israeli air force has modified its F-35 jets so that they can drop even larger ordnance including 2,000lb bombs, which it refers to as “beast mode”.
“Such bombs can be lethal within a 300-metre radius and typically leave a 12-metre-wide bomb crater”, Al-Haq told the court.
A UN-appointed commission warned that these bombs can “rupture lungs and sinuses and tear off people’s limbs hundreds of feet from the blast site”.
Jeanine Hourani from the Palestine Youth Movement commented: “As our people continue to be massacred in Gaza, we have an obligation to do everything in our power to enforce a people’s arms embargo.
“We know that this genocide would not be possible without the lethal F-35 fighter jet and as Palestinians and Arabs living in Britain, we will continue organising our community here to end British complicity in genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes”.