Human rights violations and the targeting of civilians in Gaza are at the root of both cases.
Last month, Disclose and Marsactu reported that in October, Paris sold spare parts to Israel for machine guns that could be used in Gaza. The French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu responded to journalists that “this is a license only for re-export” to other customers.
Over the past week, NGOs have filed three different cases before the Paris administrative court.
One focuses specifically on an arms export license for ammunition and fuze adjustment devices known as ML3. Another calls for the suspension of around twenty other arms export licenses, including weapons sights, bombing computers (ML5) and infrared or thermal imaging equipment (ML15). The third requires the suspension of all export licenses for weapons and dual-use goods to Israel.
The trials come as Western countries, including the UK and Germany, come under increasing pressure to stop selling arms to the Israeli government as it carries out a deadly attack in the Gaza Strip. for many months. Canada, Spain and Belgium announced they would no longer send weapons to Israel, while a Dutch court banned the shipment of spare parts for F-35 fighter jets.
In the United States, Democrats are starting to ask for guarantees before approving the sale of fighter jets.
Washington’s military aid to Israel amounts to at least $3.3 billion for 2023 and Germany has reportedly approved arms exports worth 326.5 million euros. In comparison, Paris exported 208 million euros worth of military equipment to the Israeli government over the past decade.
Politico
