Gaza war: French arms sales to Israel marked by lack of transparency and control

The parliamentary hearing on France's annual arms exports was cancelled for the second time last week.

Initially scheduled for November, the hearing - intended to question the ministers of the armed forces, foreign trade and industry - was postponed to 11 December due to a busy parliamentary agenda. However, in the meantime, the French government's censure by MPs has indefinitely postponed the session.

The hearing was highly anticipated, as it would have been the first opportunity since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October 2023 to clarify the sensitive issue of arms sales to Israel by the world’s second-largest arms supplier.

While the Israeli army's repeated violations of international law have been denounced by numerous international organisations, including in an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the types of French military equipment exported to Israel remain unknown.

“As things stand, we have no way of knowing more,” said Aurelien Saintoul, an MP from the left-wing party France Unbowed (La France insoumise, LFI) and a member of the National Assembly's defence committee, which is responsible for conducting the hearing.

Read more: Gaza war: French arms sales to Israel marked by lack of transparency and control