New report accuses France of 'continuously' delivering military equipment to Israel

Middle East Eye

a day ago

A new report has accused France of "regularly and continuously" delivering military equipment to Israel since the start of its war on Gaza.
According to the study by a coalition of NGOs released on Tuesday, deliveries have been continuous, both by sea and by air, since October 2023.
They include more than 15 million "bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and other munitions of war" worth more than $8m, as well as 1,868 "parts and accessories for rocket launchers, grenades, flamethrowers, artillery, military rifles and hunting rifles" worth more than $2m.
The report was produced by the activist network Progressive International (PI) in cooperation with a coalition of NGOs including the Palestinian Youth Movement, the French Jewish Union for Peace, BDS France and Stop Arming Israel France.
To compile the report, the organisations say they relied on data from the Israel Tax Authority, verifying imports that corresponded to French-made military equipment.
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By comparing these imports with French exports, they found "no fewer than 14 freight flights" as well as "at least 16 shipments destined for the Israeli ports of Haifa or Ashdod."
At a press conference to launch the report at the National Assembly in Paris, David Adler of Progressive International said that the document "reveals a very stunning hypocrisy at the heart of President Macron's foreign policy and the sustained violation of international humanitarian law."
'The data presented in this report offers a very partial picture of French complicity in the occupation, destruction and genocide of the Palestinian people'
- David Adler, Progressive International secretary general
Denouncing "very hollow promises about Palestinian liberation" and the positioning of France "as a champion of human rights", he said the report confirmed "what many people in this country have long suspected to be true: that France has played and continues to play a central role in the traffic of arms to Israel not for defensive purposes but to be deployed against the people of Gaza and the occupied territories of the West Bank."
Adler said the report also identified shipments of F-35 fighter jet components, artillery systems and machine gun ammunition, weapons that have been documented in use during the mass killing of Palestinian civilians attempting to access humanitarian aid in recent days.
The authors have specified that the study is limited in scope. For example, drone components sold by the French group Thales are not included.
"The data presented in this report offers a very partial picture of French complicity in the occupation, destruction and genocide of the Palestinian people," Adler said.
More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel's war on Gaza, which several countries, as well as many international rights groups and experts, now describe as "genocide".
"The full scope of this military cooperation, including classified licences and covert operations, remains hidden from public view and remains hidden from parliamentary view as well," Adler added.
"We're here to demand accountability, transparency and a full parliamentary investigation into France's role in arming and aiding Israel as it continues to bomb, kill and starve the people of Gaza and occupy the West Bank."
'Double standards'
The report follows revelations by the investigative media outlet Disclose last week that France was preparing to deliver machine gun equipment to Israel.
According to Disclose, an Israeli cargo ship stopped last Thursday in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, to deliver to Israel 19 pallets containing several tons of spare parts for machine guns.
The parts, called "links", are small metal pieces used to connect machine gun bullets and allow rapid bursts of fire. There has been concern in the media and among rights groups that they have likely been used against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza war: French arms sales to Israel marked by lack of transparency and control Read More »
According to Disclose, the operation was authorised by the French government and was to be carried out in the utmost secrecy.
Anne Savinel-Barras, president of Amnesty International France, said such deliveries were taking place "in opacity and in total contradiction" with the recent statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had expressed horror over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
"These weapons could be used to commit serious crimes under international law in Gaza and the West Bank," she said, urging France to end its "double standards" and impose a total embargo on all arms intended for Israel.
"If France continues to authorise the delivery of war material to Israel, it is fuelling this genocide," Savinel-Barras added.
According to Disclose, which had access to maritime data, two other such shipments between Fos-sur-Mer and the Israeli port of Haifa took place on 3 April and 22 May.
French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu had stated at the time that these parts exported by a Marseille company, Eurolink, would be "re-exported" through Israel and not used by the Israeli army.
On Friday, after French dock workers in Fos-sur-Mer blocked the shipment in protest, Lecornu stated again France's "clear" position that it does not sell weapons to Israel.
Only "components" intended for the "Iron Dome", Israel's anti-missile system, or "elements for re-export" are sold to Israel, he added.
In the latter case, "some items go to Israel, undergo industrial intervention, and are often re-exported. Sometimes even to France. And all of this is subject to monitoring," Lecornu said.
Lack of accountability
According to experts, including the report's authors, it is impossible to verify whether equipment sold by France are actually used by the Israeli army and deployed in Gaza.
In France, military affairs fall exclusively under the executive branch. Arms deliveries are covered by state secrecy, which means the parliament has almost no room to manoeuvre in controlling the government's actions.
UK and France abandon plans to recognise Palestinian state at conference Read More »
During the press conference on Tuesday, Bastien Lachaud, a France Insoumise MP and a member of the parliamentary defence committee, said that his party had been questioning the government about arms exports to Israel for months without satisfying answers.
"There is no guarantee and no follow-up on the supposed reshipments of weapons assembled in Israel. Similarly, we see that the parts cited in this report are not used in the Iron Dome."
He pointed out that France is a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty and, therefore, "there should not even be a question about what type of weapons or what quantity.
"The treaty is very clear: when there is a risk of committing a war crime, a crime against humanity or a genocide, arms deliveries must cease immediately. This has not been the case here," he added.
No French company can sell arms to Israel without "specific, detailed authorisation" from the French prime minister and government, he said, lamenting that parliament is "deprived of any power to control arms deliveries".
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a French court rejected a request from NGOs asking it to ban Israeli companies from the Paris Air Show scheduled from 16 to 22 June at Le Bourget, near Paris, citing the risk of perpetuating "international crimes".
The court considered that an obligation to screen exhibitors would involve "in-depth legal and political analyses, closely linked to the conduct of France's international relations, which SIAE [the organiser] does not appear capable of conducting," a lawyer for the NGOs told AFP.