STOCKHOLM: European countries continue to supply weapons to Israel despite its attacks on Gaza and stand accused of committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian territory.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), France, Germany and Italy along with the US, accounted for 81 percent of the Middle East’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023.
Israel’s military spending increased 24 percent to $27.5 billion after its attacks on Gaza, making it the second-largest arms spender in the Middle East. From 2014 to 2022, the European Union issued export licenses to Israel worth $6.8 billion.
These arms are believed to have contributed to the deaths of more than 38,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including 10,000 women and more than 15,000 children.
Although some European states, including Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, decided to stop arms sales to Israel, there have been reports that this trade has continued somehow.
Major European arms suppliers
Germany is Israel’s largest European arms supplier, providing about 30 percent of Israel’s imports between 2019 and 2023. In 2023, German weapons deliveries to Israel increased to €326.5 million, peaking after October. 7.
Most of France’s arms exports in 2019-2023 went to the Middle Eastern states, accounting for 34 percent of its total exports. France is also known to provide parts for Israel’s missile defence system, known as the Iron Dome.
Despite laws restricting arms sales to human rights violators, Italy exported €2.1 million worth of arms to Israel in the last quarter of 2023.
According to a report by the London-based charity Action on Armed Violence the UK has granted more than $576 million in arms licenses to Israel since 2015. In addition, 15 percent of the materials used in the F-35 fighter jet production purchased by Israel since 2016 are supplied by British defence companies.
Though Spain has not reported any arms sales to Israel since October 7, from November 2023 it transferred ammunition worth €987,000. Between 2014 and 2022, Spain issued export licenses worth €99 million, for ammunition and military vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Greece and some other European states also exported arms to Israel in past.
According to Gaza health authorities, nearly 38,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and at least 88,241 others injured in the Israeli relentless bombardment of the besieged enclave.
