For them, “it is time for France to live up to the historic moment”. 115 left-wing parliamentarians wrote to Emmanuel Macron this Friday to ask him to “immediately stop all arms sales, even those deemed solely defensive, to the far-right government” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is continuing his war in Gaza . “It seems important to remember that similar measures have already been taken by other countries, such as Canada, the Netherlands and Spain,” estimate these 115 deputies and senators.
📝 Because France must not, cannot, free itself from international law, 115 parliamentarians expressly ask the President of the Republic to immediately stop the sale of arms to Israel.
France's role is to promote peace, not to surrender… pic.twitter.com/TwJykVg87c
— Mathilde Panot (@MathildePanot) April 5, 2024
“France is in contradiction with the international treaties it has signed by continuing to provide military equipment to Israel,” they argue, calling on Emmanuel Macron to “not risk making France complicit in genocide against the Palestinian people.” ". “France's role is to promote peace, not to be complicit in a genocide,” said Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI deputies on X (ex-Twitter).
A request from the UN Human Rights Council
These parliamentarians rely on investigations by the investigative sites Disclose and Marsactu, according to which “France authorized, at the end of October 2023, the delivery to Israel of at least 100,000 pieces of cartridges for machine guns capable of be used against civilians in Gaza. The license allowing the sale of these parts, which would have been sent by the company Eurolinks to the Israeli group IMI Systems from the port of Marseille, “only concerns re-export to third countries”, affirmed the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu. last week.
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At the same time as this letter was published this Friday morning, the UN Human Rights Council demanded an end to all arms sales to Israel at war against Hamas in Gaza, in a resolution evoking the fears of “genocide” against the Palestinians.
The war was triggered by the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7 in southern Israel, which led to the death of 1,170 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count made from official Israeli figures. The military operation carried out by Israel in Gaza in retaliation left more than 33,000 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health. Le Parisien is not able to independently verify this count.