French, German arms sales to Israel hit by legal action
Western nations are under increasing pressure to stop selling weapons to the Israeli government.
Moderator - Tomas Kauer 
PARIS — French and German weapons sales to Israel were hit by legal action this week.
In Paris, 11 NGOs including Amnesty International France and Attac have filed court cases to make France stop arms deliveries to Israel, according to investigative outlet Disclose.
In Germany, human rights lawyers asked the Berlin administrative court to suspend the German government’s decision to send 3,000 anti-tank weapons to Israel, according to Reuters.
Human rights violations and the targeting of civilians in Gaza are the reasoning behind both cases.
Last month, Disclose and Marsactu reported that, in October, Paris sold Israel spare parts for machine guns that could be used in Gaza. French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu replied to reporters that “it’s a license only for re-export” to other customers.
Over the past week, the NGOs filed three different cases to the Paris administrative court.
One focuses specifically on an arms export license for ammunition and fuze setting devices known as ML3. Another asks for the suspension of around 20 other arms export licenses for weapon sights, bombardment calculators (ML5) and infrared or thermal imaging equipment (ML15). The third demands the suspension of all export licenses for both weapons and dual-use goods to Israel.
The court cases come as Western nations including the U.K. and Germany are under increasing pressure to stop selling weapons to the Israeli government, as it wages a deadly monthslong assault in the Gaza Strip. Canada, Spain and Belgium have announced they will no longer send weaponry to Israel, while a Dutch court banned the shipment of F-35 fighter jet parts.
In the U.S., Democrats are starting to ask for guarantees before approving warplane sales.
Washington’s military aid to Israel amounted to at least $3.3 billion for 2023 and Germany reportedly approved €326.5 million worth of arms exports. In comparison, Paris exported €208 million worth of military equipment to the Israeli government over the past decade.
