An American ammunition shipment arrived in Israel earlier (Associated Press)

Despite the passage of 135 days since its continued aggression against the Gaza Strip, and the accompanying protests, lawsuits, and demands to prevent the export of weapons to it, Israel is still receiving arms shipments from several countries.

Germany and Britain top the list of European countries that continue to support Israel with weapons, even though Israel is facing trials on charges of genocide in Gaza by the International Court of Justice, amid increasing pressure from human rights organizations.

Although the United States is the largest traditional arms supplier to Israel, Germany and Britain have also provided significant support to Israel for many years.

According to current data issued by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States provided 70.2% of conventional arms supplies to Israel between 2011 and 2020, followed by Germany 23.9%, then Italy 5.9%, according to what Anadolu Agency reported.

According to the British non-governmental organization “Campaign Against Arms Trade,” Germany and the United Kingdom do not provide arms export data “transparently.” However, according to the database created by the organization from information obtained from open sources, in the period between 2015 In 2020, the German government agreed to sell weapons worth at least 1.4 billion euros to Israel.

The United Kingdom also sent warplanes, missiles, tanks, light aircraft, and weapons to Israel in that same period, and military exports worth 426 million euros were achieved, including weapons and ammunition components. These figures do not include the export of German and British weapons to Israel via third countries.

According to data from the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Britain sells military equipment to Israel, and there are 6 different British companies within the F-35 fighter project, including two companies that sell missiles to Israel, and there are some companies - such as “Elbit” for the Israeli defense industry - that have a license to trade Military equipment in the United Kingdom.

The Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq and the London-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) filed a lawsuit against Britain in the Supreme Court on December 13, accusing it of “ignoring requests to suspend arms sales to Israel that violate International laws.”

10 times increase

As for Germany, its sales of weapons and military equipment to Israel last year increased 10 times compared to 2022, and reached 326.5 million euros, according to the “Federal Government Arms Export Policy for 2023” report issued by the Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection regarding approval of arms sales to foreign countries.

In the first few weeks after the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, the German government approved 185 additional requests for a license to export arms supplies to Israel.

While Berlin has so far agreed to send armored vehicles and protective equipment for soldiers to Israel, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported on January 17 that the government is reviewing the shipment of sensitive tank ammunition requested by Tel Aviv and plans to approve it.

Intelligence support

According to data from the Ministry of Defense, between 2013 and 2022, France sold approximately 200 million euros of weapons to Israel.

However, Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu answered the question: “Does France provide military support to Israel?” On October 16, he said that his country mostly provides intelligence support to Israel.

This was accompanied by activists organizing a demonstration in front of the headquarters of Dassault Aviation Defense Industries, saying that "all French companies that sell weapons to the government of Israel are complicit in the genocide committed in Gaza."

Representatives from the opposition "France Proud" party also announced on February 14 that Paris should not be complicit in the "genocide committed by Israel" and signed a petition to stop selling weapons to it.

Weapons testing in Gaza

Last November 16, an Italian opposition leader and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called on the government to immediately suspend arms supplies to Israel.

As these reactions increased, Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated on January 20 that they had decided to stop sending weapons to Israel as of October 7, and that they had not sent any type of weapons.

Stop sales calls

As for Spain, the Centro delas organization - which focuses on international peace efforts - examined foreign trade data and revealed that a local company sold military ammunition to Israel in November 2023 for 987 thousand euros.

Following the strong reactions of Spanish public opinion to the Israeli massacres in Gaza, government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría stated that no military equipment had been sold to Israel since October 7, and that these statements were for an earlier period.

This comes as the Israeli war on Gaza continues, and what the International Court of Justice in The Hague is considering after a lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel on charges of committing genocide against the residents of the Gaza Strip, which left tens of thousands martyred, wounded and missing, in addition to the destruction of infrastructure and residential, medical and educational buildings.

Source: Anadolu Agency