Crown Prince Salman himself was named by US intelligence as approving the capture or killing of Khashoggi<\/a>, whose body was dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now as conflicts continue in the region<\/a>, Saudi Arabia will receive one of the world’s most lethal fighter jets.<\/p>\n Why the Saudi sale is ‘problematic’<\/p>\n Ahead of announcing the F-35 deal, Mr Trump gushed that Prince Salman <\/a>was a “very good friend”.<\/p>\n The president also contradicted the 2021 US intelligence assessment by saying the crown prince “knew nothing” about Khashoggi’s killing.<\/p>\n The prince has denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.<\/p>\n The US has so far only allowed the sales of F-35s to its closest allies, including a number of European NATO allies.<\/p>\n And until now, Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have access to America’s stealth fighter jets.<\/p>\n The White House has not provided details about how many Saudi Arabia would receive, but the country had requested to buy 48.<\/p>\n Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hold hands during their meeting in the Oval Office. (Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein)<\/p>\n Andrew Witheford, international and crisis lead from Amnesty International Australia, said putting the highly-lethal jet into the hands of another country in the region was “problematic”.<\/p>\n Saudi-led strike on Yemen kills 20, including civilians and Houthi official<\/a><\/p>\n A retaliatory strike by Saudi Arabia and the UAE against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the capital of Sana’a kills 20 including some civilians.<\/p>\n “The F-35 used to only be sold to essentially liberal democratic countries,” he told the ABC.<\/p>\n “The Saudi Arabia sale is introducing a very capable platform into a region characterised by serious conflict and significant breaches of humanitarian law and human rights.”<\/p>\n A Saudi-led coalition has been waging a war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.<\/p>\n In 2018, a United Nations expert group documented information <\/a>that “strongly suggests that parties to the armed conflict have perpetrated, and continue to perpetrate, violations and crimes under international law” between September 2014 and June 2018.<\/p>\n It singled out air strikes by a coalition, which included Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as causing the most civilian casualties.<\/p>\n “The air strikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities,” the group noted.<\/p>\n Deadly attacks have continued in recent years and today the conflict remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Australia’s F-35 involvement\u00a0<\/p>\n Australia is among the F-35 program’s core partner countries.<\/p>\n More than 70 Australian companies are involved in building the jets, and contribute parts to a global supply chain accessed by countries to maintain their fleets.<\/p>\n Australia’s F-35 fighter jet export details ‘quietly’ disappeared<\/a><\/p>\n Defence Department emails show that a website dedicated to Australia’s role in the global F-35 supply chain was removed at start of Gaza war.<\/p>\n Australia’s role in the F-35 program has come under scrutiny since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in Gaza in October 2023.<\/p>\n The UN Arms Trade Treaty,<\/a> to which Australia is a party, says states must regulate the export of “parts and components” used to assemble weapons if there is knowledge the arms would be used in genocide, crimes against humanity, or certain war crimes.<\/p>\n The International Association of Genocide Scholars <\/a>and UN commission of inquiry <\/a>says Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n Israel has long maintained its actions in Gaza are self-defence and that genocide allegations are politically motivated.<\/p>\n The Albanese government has argued that Australia only provides “non-lethal” parts for the jets, and any transfers were “centrally coordinated by Lockheed Martin and the US government”.<\/p>\n A UN Special Rapporteur report last month<\/a> listed 19 countries, including Australia, involved in the indirect transfer of components for Israel’s F-35 stealth strike fighter program.<\/p>\n “We’ve seen Israel essentially wage genocide in Gaza for over two years using F-35s,” Mr Witheford said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Every one of those is flying with Australian-made components in it.” An aerial picture from a Jordanian military aircraft shows part of the Gaza Strip. (Reuters: Alaa Al Sukhni)<\/p>\n Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, said the Albanese government’s arguments that the US controlled F-35 parts did not absolve Australia of its legal responsibilities.<\/p>\n And there were similar treaty obligations to consider if parts and components were used in the F-35s provided to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n “The Arms Trade Treaty not only includes a fully assembled weapon, but it also extends to parts and components,” professor Rothwell said.<\/p>\n “If a country has a poor track record of using arms in such a way that raised serious and legitimate questions about the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and the acts of genocide, arguably Australia should be saying, ‘no, we will not export to them.'”\u00a0<\/p>\n Smoke rises after an in Israeli air strike in Gaza City in September 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 (Reuters: Ebrahim Hajjaj)<\/p>\n The Defence Department and Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office were approached for comment.<\/p>\n Defence referred the ABC to a Senate estimates hearing from last month<\/a> where Deputy Secretary Hugh Jeffrey repeated that the F-35 supply chain was “operated globally by Lockheed Martin”.<\/p>\n “Australian industry inputs into that supply chain, but the actual supply chain itself is a US led and US operated mechanism,” he said.Calls for arms exports transparency<\/p>\n After Khashoggi’s killing, 36 countries \u2014 including Australia \u2014 provided a joint rebuke of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.<\/p>\n And when Riyadh was accused of carrying out unlawful air strikes on civilians in Yemen, the US Congress voted to temporarily end America’s military assistance to the kingdom.<\/p>\n Australia grants permits to send lethal technology to accused human rights violators<\/a><\/p>\n The Defence Department grants dozens of permits for weapons exports to nations accused of gross human rights violations and war crimes.<\/p>\n Australia did not follow suit and continues to export arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE today.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Unlike other countries, Australia does not specify exactly what types of military goods it has approved for export.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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