The Dutch foreign affairs minister David van Weel must decide himself whether to resume the export of fighter jet parts to Israel, and that decision must be taken within six weeks, the Dutch Supreme Court said on Friday.

In making that reassessment, the minister must “apply the criterion of whether granting the licence poses a clear risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law”, the court said.

In February 2024, judges at The Hague appeal court ordered the Dutch government to stop sending F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing violations of international humanitarian law and overturning a lower court decision.

Oxfam Novib, Pax Nederland and The Rights Forum had filed the civil complaint in December 2023, arguing that shipping F-35 parts which are owned by the United States but stored in a warehouse at Woensdrecht Air Base makes the Dutch complicit in war crimes in Gaza.

The then minister suspended shipments following the appeal court ruling and a further appeal to the Supreme Court.

In November, the court’s advocate general Paul Vlas said that the appeal court was “justified in concluding that there is a clear risk that Israel’s use of F-35 fighter jets could lead to serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza”.

“Based on various international agreements to which the Netherlands is a party, the export of military goods must be prohibited if such a clear risk exists,” the advocate general said.

Now the Supreme Court has ruled that if the minister himself determines there is a clear risk that the spare parts will be used in committing serious violations of international humanitarian law, he may “no longer allow the use of the licence”.

The appeal court had wrongly made its own assessment and concluded that there was a clear risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law rather than instructing the minister to reassess the licence himself, the Supreme Court said.

The export of parts will remain banned until that process has been completed.

Van Weel has not yet commented on the court ruling, which comes just three weeks before the general election and the start of a new government formation process during which the Dutch position on Israel is likely to have a central role.