French port workers stop armaments deliveries to Israel!

French port workers stop armaments deliveries to Israel!

Marseille, Frankreich - French port workers in Marseille recently drew attention to themselves by refraining military goods for Israel. This applies to a load that includes individual parts for machine guns that were produced by a regional company and are presumably to be used against the Palestinian population. The container with these goods was localized and put aside, while the Israeli army emphasizes, not fighting against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, but against Hamas. Kleine Zeitung reports that this blockade supports support from left-wing politicians such as Manuel Bompard from the Left Party and Olivier Faure, the boss of the socialist receives.

The background of this action are closely linked to the current conflict in the Gaza Strip. The war began on October 7, 2023, when the Hamas and other Islamist groups of Israel attacked, which led to the death of around 1,200 people and to the kidnapping of more than 250 hostages. Since then, Israeli military leadership has dropped 29,000 bombs in the Gaza Strip in the first two months of the conflict, which illustrates the terrible intensity of the conflict.

armaments production and financing

Israel has a flourishing armaments industry that includes more than 150 companies. The defense budget for 2023 is $ 17 billion, with a planned increase to $ 32 billion. These funds enable Israel to export weapons worth $ 12.5 billion worldwide, which represents an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous year. A significant part of these financial resources comes from the United States, which Israel provide $ 3.8 billion military aid annually and provide an additional $ 500 million for missile defense systems. NZZ reports on efforts to reduce the dependence on American weapons, while the United States has been more than 100 weapon transfers since the start of the war have made to Israel.

The armaments goods that the United States deliver to Israel include 50 F-15 fighter jets as well as rockets and armored ammunition with a total value of around $ 20 billion. The delivery of this equipment is planned for the next few years, whereby the F-15-fight jets will probably only arrive in 2029. Tagesschau emphasizes that this support not only contributes to the security of Israel, but also as part of the National Interest in the United States applies.

In this sensitive context, human rights activists and some members of the left wing of the Democratic Party require a review or even interruption of arms exports to Israel, especially against the background of the aggression that can be felt in the region. The international community remains divided in its opinion about the events in the Gaza Strip and the associated military actions.