The Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems on June 16, 2022, at the Eurostarory exhibition in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis (AFP/Archives/Emmanuel DUNAND)
France canceled the participation of Israeli arms manufacturers in the Eurosatory defense exhibition on Friday, after a deadly bombing of a displaced persons camp in Rafah by the Israeli army sparked international outrage and sparked demonstrations in France.
“By decision of government authorities, there will be no Israeli defense industry stand at the Eurosatory 2024 exhibition,” the organizer of the event, Coges Events, told AFP.
According to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, “the conditions are no longer met to receive Israeli companies at the French show, in a context where the President of the Republic is calling for Israeli operations to cease in Rafah.”
“In accordance with the declarations of the President of the Republic, it is urgent to obtain a ceasefire which will ensure the protection of the populations in Gaza, the release of all the hostages and full access to the “humanitarian aid”, said the Ministry of the Armed Forces in a statement.
Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, asked France to “reverse” this decision.
“I discussed with the French Prime Minister” Gabriel Attal, wrote the former head of the Israeli government on X. “I stressed that this decision would ultimately reward terrorism and I asked France to reverse this ban.
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) asked France on Friday evening on X to reverse this decision, citing “a double fault, political and diplomatic”.
The Israeli defense technology company Rafael at the Eurosatory exhibition in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, June 13, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Emmanuel DUNAND)
Just over 2,000 exhibitors are registered for Eurosatory, an international defense and land security exhibition, which will take place from June 17 to 21 in Villepinte, north of Paris.
Among them, 74 Israeli companies, including the main defense industrialists of the Hebrew State and “around ten of whom are presenting weapons”, were expected, previously indicated the president of Coges Events, Charles Beaudouin.
– Iron Dome –
For several weeks, pressure had increased on Paris and the organizers of the show, regarding the participation of Israeli companies and the supply of arms to Israel by France.
A collective of associations, including the France Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS), notably ordered Coges Events on Wednesday to “prevent” the trade in arms likely to be used by the Israeli army in Gaza, under penalty of prosecution. judicial.
“These weapons are being tested on Palestinians” in Gaza, Jacques Fröchen, the secretary general of the AFPS, explained to AFP on Friday, who said he welcomed “a very strong decision by France which we appreciate at its fair value” .
The French government has repeatedly refused to supply military equipment to Israel, with the exception of components intended for the Israeli Iron Dome anti-rocket system, used to destroy rockets fired by Hamas in flight.
“France does not sell weapons to Israel (…). We are fully responsible for exporting components which are part of the composition of the Iron Dome”, recalled May 21 to the National Assembly Patricia Mirallès, the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Armed Forces.
In 2022, exports of components to Israel represented 15 million euros, or “0.2% of overall exports”, Minister Sébastien Lecornu said in March.
More than 36,224 Palestinians, the vast majority women, children and adolescents, have, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, been killed since the start of the bombardments carried out by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip, in response to a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
This attack led to the death of more than 1,170 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. Of the 252 people taken as hostages on October 7, 121 are still detained in the Gaza Strip, 37 of whom are considered dead by the Israeli army.
Despite the wave of international indignation raised by the bombing of the displaced persons camp in Rafah, which left dozens dead, the army continued its ground offensive in this overcrowded city, launched on May 7 with the declared objective of eliminate the last battalions of Hamas.
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© 2024 AFP
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