France’s defense minister denies supplying arms to Israel amid Gaza war

France’s defense minister denies allegations from investigative journalists that France supplied components for ammunition used by the Israeli army in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Marseille-based firm Eurolinks had sold Israel M27 links, metal pieces used to join rifle cartridges into ammunition belts for machine guns, investigative websites Disclose and Marsactu wrote.

Such ammunition “could have been used against civilians in the Gaza Strip,” they claimed.

The investigative outlets’ reporting was supported by photos of the links that they said were taken on October 23, weeks after Hamas’s bloody October 7 massacre in southern Israel that triggered the intense fighting in Gaza.

AFP was unable to verify the reported shipment.

But French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu tells reporters in Paris that Eurolinks’ license to export to Israeli firm IMI Systems “only covers re-export to third countries” rather than use by the Israeli army.

According to a 2023 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which studies conflicts and arms, 69 percent of Israel’s arms purchases come from US firms, 30% from Germany and 0.9% from Italy.

Tal Schneider contributed to this report.