French arms exports to Israel ‘a continuous pipeline of military hardware’
ANALYSIS
Throughout the war in Gaza, France maintained that its exports of military equipment to Israel were solely for defensive purposes or intended for re-export to other countries. A new report by two pro-Palestinian groups argues that French firms and transport hubs have continued to arm Israel’s military operations “through supply chains that have bypassed public scrutiny”.
Issued on: 08/04/2026 -
FRANCE24
By: Benjamin DODMAN
Sermat is among more than a dozen French firms cited in a report published on Tuesday by pro-Palestinian advocacy groups Urgence Palestine and People’s Embargo for Palestine. Titled “Exposing French military shipments to Israel”, the 66-page report details the steady flow of French-made equipment that has continued to supply Israel’s military industry throughout the Gaza War.
Compiled from open-source export data, it charts “more than 525 shipments of military goods (that) have been shipped from French manufacturers to Israeli defence and aerospace industries” between October 2023 and March 2026.
Goods include “actuators, optical components, and batteries for avionics and ground systems; ammunition links for rifles and machine guns; as well as sensors for armored vehicles and forgings for artillery systems”. Though none of the components constitute lethal weapons that are ready for use, the report says they “represent a continuous pipeline of military hardware to Israel, directly facilitating the technical infrastructure of its assaults”.
Contacted by FRANCE 24, the French finance ministry did not wish to comment on the report, while the defence ministry referred to Vautrin’s social media post. The French government has taken steps to dissolve Urgence Palestine for “inciting hatred”, in a move criticised by several human rights experts appointed by the UN.
‘Bypassing public scrutiny’
The report by Urgence Palestine and People’s Embargo for Palestine also details the important role played by French airports and seaports as transport hubs for military shipments to Israel, notably from the US. It states that the FedEx hub at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle handled 117 shipments carrying Lockheed Martin components that are crucial to the maintenance and repair of Israel’s fleet of F-35 jets.
“As a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), and the Genocide Convention, France is legally and morally bound to ensure that its industrial and state exports do not facilitate serious violations of international law,” the report concludes, adding that the evidence suggests “these obligations have been breached through supply chains that have bypassed public scrutiny”.
As early as January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) warned of the “risk” of genocide being committed against the Palestinian people. Last September, a UN human rights commission concluded that the risk had become reality, adding that the international community was under the “legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza”.
Some European countries have heeded such calls, with Spain and Belgium notably enacting arms embargos on Israel. The Spanish government has also banned the use of its ports and airports for exports of weapons, dual-use technology and military equipment to Israel.
Docker protests
Elsewhere, most notably in Italy, dock workers have taken matters into their own hands, sometimes refusing to load military equipment onto ships bound for Israel.
In June last year, mirroring earlier protests in Genoa, Salerno and Ravenna, dockers in the French port of Fos-sur-Mer refused to load crates of links used in machine guns aboard a cargo vessel bound for the Israeli port of Haifa. It came days after another investigation by Disclose revealed that the port near Marseille was a key link in the secretive export of spare parts for machine guns.
The links manufactured by local company Eurolinks are small metal pieces used to connect machine gun bullets and allowing rapid bursts of fire. Rights groups say they have likely been used against civilians in the Gaza Strip, including in the February 24, 2024 “Flour Massacre” in which hundreds of Palestinians were killed or injured as they sought food from aid trucks.
Sébastien Lecornu, then France’s defence minister and the current prime minister, stated at the time that the export licence granted to Eurolinks “relates solely to re-export” and “does not entitle the Israeli army to use these components”. He did not elaborate on whether and how the French authorities sought to enforce the terms of the licence in Israel.
French arms manufacturers contacted by Disclose and Le Monde have offered similar answers, suggesting it was up to their Israeli clients to abide by French export rules.
Defence ties between the two countries have cooled sharply since the start of the Gaza War, with Paris taking an increasingly critical line toward Israel and at one point banning Israeli firms from a major arms fair.
According to a parliamentary report published last year, France authorised more than 200 dual-use export licences to Israel in 2024 worth €76.5 million – a 60% decrease from the previous year. Those figures look set for an even sharper drop next year – though not at France’s initiative.
The Israeli defence ministry announced last week it would stop all defence procurement from France, accusing Paris of a hostile stance. The ministry said it would instead rely on the local defence industry and suppliers in “friendly” countries.
Analysts, however, suggest the announcement had more to do with heated rhetoric than a substantial policy shift, noting that existing contracts are expected to be honoured and that private companies may still pursue deals.
ANALYSIS
Throughout the war in Gaza, France maintained that its exports of military equipment to Israel were solely for defensive purposes or intended for re-export to other countries. A new report by two pro-Palestinian groups argues that French firms and transport hubs have continued to arm Israel’s military operations “through supply chains that have bypassed public scrutiny”.
Issued on: 08/04/2026 -
FRANCE24
By: Benjamin DODMAN
French electronics firm Sermat has been ordered to halt exports of components used for Israeli drones such as the Hermes 900, built by Elbit Systems. © Jack Guez, AFP
In October last year, French customs agents paid a surprise visit to the headquarters of Sermat, an electronics firm based on the edge of Paris. Its purpose was to investigate the company’s dealings with Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems, the country’s leading arms manufacturer.
A day earlier, customs at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France’s main hub, had blocked an Israeli-bound shipment of Sermat’s alternators – electric generators used by Elbit Systems to equip drones that have been widely deployed by the Israeli army in Gaza.
The rare move came just days after investigative website Disclose revealed that Sermat had also supplied Elbit Systems with electric motors fitted onto Israeli drones – including the Hermes 450 unmanned aircraft that was involved in the fatal killing of humanitarian workers for the NGO World Central Kitchen in April 2024.
Following those revelations, the French government moved swiftly – and discreetly – to ban all exports of Sermat products to Israel. The ban, Disclose wrote at the time, amounted to an admission that “there is a real risk of exported components being used in the bombardments” that have now killed more than 72,000 people in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, according to health officials.
‘Defensive systems’
Since the early months of the Gaza War, France has repeatedly stated that it does not export lethal military equipment liable to be used in the Palestinian territory – a stance recently reiterated by Catherine Vautrin, the French minister for the armed forces and veterans.
In a social media post on April 4, Vautrin stressed that French military exports to Israel were limited to components for “defensive systems designed to protect civilians”, such as Israel’s Iron Dome, or authorised shipments intended for weapons to be assembled in Israel and then exported to other countries.
But critics argue that the line between defensive and offensive uses is often blurry, and that French authorities have no control over the components once they have been sold. In Sermat’s case, Disclose pointed to loopholes in export rules, noting that the company’s contracts with Elbit Systems originally involved the equipment of unarmed surveillance drones – and was therefore exempt from the “dual-use” classification that involves more stringent controls.
In October last year, French customs agents paid a surprise visit to the headquarters of Sermat, an electronics firm based on the edge of Paris. Its purpose was to investigate the company’s dealings with Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems, the country’s leading arms manufacturer.
A day earlier, customs at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France’s main hub, had blocked an Israeli-bound shipment of Sermat’s alternators – electric generators used by Elbit Systems to equip drones that have been widely deployed by the Israeli army in Gaza.
The rare move came just days after investigative website Disclose revealed that Sermat had also supplied Elbit Systems with electric motors fitted onto Israeli drones – including the Hermes 450 unmanned aircraft that was involved in the fatal killing of humanitarian workers for the NGO World Central Kitchen in April 2024.
Following those revelations, the French government moved swiftly – and discreetly – to ban all exports of Sermat products to Israel. The ban, Disclose wrote at the time, amounted to an admission that “there is a real risk of exported components being used in the bombardments” that have now killed more than 72,000 people in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, according to health officials.
‘Defensive systems’
Since the early months of the Gaza War, France has repeatedly stated that it does not export lethal military equipment liable to be used in the Palestinian territory – a stance recently reiterated by Catherine Vautrin, the French minister for the armed forces and veterans.
In a social media post on April 4, Vautrin stressed that French military exports to Israel were limited to components for “defensive systems designed to protect civilians”, such as Israel’s Iron Dome, or authorised shipments intended for weapons to be assembled in Israel and then exported to other countries.
But critics argue that the line between defensive and offensive uses is often blurry, and that French authorities have no control over the components once they have been sold. In Sermat’s case, Disclose pointed to loopholes in export rules, noting that the company’s contracts with Elbit Systems originally involved the equipment of unarmed surveillance drones – and was therefore exempt from the “dual-use” classification that involves more stringent controls.
© France 24
01:55
01:55
Sermat is among more than a dozen French firms cited in a report published on Tuesday by pro-Palestinian advocacy groups Urgence Palestine and People’s Embargo for Palestine. Titled “Exposing French military shipments to Israel”, the 66-page report details the steady flow of French-made equipment that has continued to supply Israel’s military industry throughout the Gaza War.
Compiled from open-source export data, it charts “more than 525 shipments of military goods (that) have been shipped from French manufacturers to Israeli defence and aerospace industries” between October 2023 and March 2026.
Goods include “actuators, optical components, and batteries for avionics and ground systems; ammunition links for rifles and machine guns; as well as sensors for armored vehicles and forgings for artillery systems”. Though none of the components constitute lethal weapons that are ready for use, the report says they “represent a continuous pipeline of military hardware to Israel, directly facilitating the technical infrastructure of its assaults”.
Contacted by FRANCE 24, the French finance ministry did not wish to comment on the report, while the defence ministry referred to Vautrin’s social media post. The French government has taken steps to dissolve Urgence Palestine for “inciting hatred”, in a move criticised by several human rights experts appointed by the UN.
‘Bypassing public scrutiny’
The report by Urgence Palestine and People’s Embargo for Palestine also details the important role played by French airports and seaports as transport hubs for military shipments to Israel, notably from the US. It states that the FedEx hub at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle handled 117 shipments carrying Lockheed Martin components that are crucial to the maintenance and repair of Israel’s fleet of F-35 jets.
“As a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), and the Genocide Convention, France is legally and morally bound to ensure that its industrial and state exports do not facilitate serious violations of international law,” the report concludes, adding that the evidence suggests “these obligations have been breached through supply chains that have bypassed public scrutiny”.
As early as January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) warned of the “risk” of genocide being committed against the Palestinian people. Last September, a UN human rights commission concluded that the risk had become reality, adding that the international community was under the “legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza”.
Some European countries have heeded such calls, with Spain and Belgium notably enacting arms embargos on Israel. The Spanish government has also banned the use of its ports and airports for exports of weapons, dual-use technology and military equipment to Israel.
Docker protests
Elsewhere, most notably in Italy, dock workers have taken matters into their own hands, sometimes refusing to load military equipment onto ships bound for Israel.
© France 24
02:18
02:18
In June last year, mirroring earlier protests in Genoa, Salerno and Ravenna, dockers in the French port of Fos-sur-Mer refused to load crates of links used in machine guns aboard a cargo vessel bound for the Israeli port of Haifa. It came days after another investigation by Disclose revealed that the port near Marseille was a key link in the secretive export of spare parts for machine guns.
The links manufactured by local company Eurolinks are small metal pieces used to connect machine gun bullets and allowing rapid bursts of fire. Rights groups say they have likely been used against civilians in the Gaza Strip, including in the February 24, 2024 “Flour Massacre” in which hundreds of Palestinians were killed or injured as they sought food from aid trucks.
Sébastien Lecornu, then France’s defence minister and the current prime minister, stated at the time that the export licence granted to Eurolinks “relates solely to re-export” and “does not entitle the Israeli army to use these components”. He did not elaborate on whether and how the French authorities sought to enforce the terms of the licence in Israel.
French arms manufacturers contacted by Disclose and Le Monde have offered similar answers, suggesting it was up to their Israeli clients to abide by French export rules.
Defence ties between the two countries have cooled sharply since the start of the Gaza War, with Paris taking an increasingly critical line toward Israel and at one point banning Israeli firms from a major arms fair.
According to a parliamentary report published last year, France authorised more than 200 dual-use export licences to Israel in 2024 worth €76.5 million – a 60% decrease from the previous year. Those figures look set for an even sharper drop next year – though not at France’s initiative.
The Israeli defence ministry announced last week it would stop all defence procurement from France, accusing Paris of a hostile stance. The ministry said it would instead rely on the local defence industry and suppliers in “friendly” countries.
Analysts, however, suggest the announcement had more to do with heated rhetoric than a substantial policy shift, noting that existing contracts are expected to be honoured and that private companies may still pursue deals.
Photo: BIRN/Sasa Dragojlo
April 8, 2026
Balkan Insight
By Sasa Dragojlo and Avi Scharf
In early March, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the imminent opening of a drone factory. “For serious drones,” he said. “The most serious in the world.”
Vucic said the factory would be a joint venture between two partners and might be ready in April, but he didn’t specify with whom Serbia was partnering. The answer might prove unsavoury for some.
BIRN and Haaretz can reveal that the factory will be co-owned by top Israeli Elbit Systems and Serbia’s main state-owned import-export company, SDPR – with the Israeli partner having a majority state of 51 per cent.
In a June 2025 report, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese named Elbit Systems among a number of companies profiting from “the ongoing genocide” in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli military operations since the October 2023 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas.
According to official documents obtained by BIRN/Haaretz and two independent sources, Elbit and SDPR plan to produce two types of drones for short- and long-range missions.
The partnership arguably takes defence ties between the two countries to a new level; the value of Serbian arms exports to Israel has already skyrocketed 42-fold since 2023, reaching 114 million euros last year. Most of those exports were carried out by SDPR.
Serbia stands to benefit financially from the drone joint venture and from the transfer of technology and knowledge from one of the most advanced arms companies in the world, said Vuk Vuksanovic, foreign policy lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Israel, on the other hand, is keen to secure a military supply chain outside its immediate region, “which is constantly in a conflict zone”, he told BIRN.
On a geopolitical level, Vuksanovic said Serbia’s ruling elite has come to see Israel as a “shortcut to the White House”, at a time of growing popular dissatisfaction with Vucic and the ruling Progressive Party after 14 years in power.
“The Serbian ruling party’s main priority now is staying in power and in order to achieve that it is best not to anger the Americans, especially in the context of recent Trump moves in the global arena,” he said.
SDPR did not respond to questions from BIRN, while Elbit Systems only replied: “No comment.”
April 8, 2026
Balkan Insight
By Sasa Dragojlo and Avi Scharf
In early March, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the imminent opening of a drone factory. “For serious drones,” he said. “The most serious in the world.”
Vucic said the factory would be a joint venture between two partners and might be ready in April, but he didn’t specify with whom Serbia was partnering. The answer might prove unsavoury for some.
BIRN and Haaretz can reveal that the factory will be co-owned by top Israeli Elbit Systems and Serbia’s main state-owned import-export company, SDPR – with the Israeli partner having a majority state of 51 per cent.
In a June 2025 report, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese named Elbit Systems among a number of companies profiting from “the ongoing genocide” in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli military operations since the October 2023 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas.
According to official documents obtained by BIRN/Haaretz and two independent sources, Elbit and SDPR plan to produce two types of drones for short- and long-range missions.
The partnership arguably takes defence ties between the two countries to a new level; the value of Serbian arms exports to Israel has already skyrocketed 42-fold since 2023, reaching 114 million euros last year. Most of those exports were carried out by SDPR.
Serbia stands to benefit financially from the drone joint venture and from the transfer of technology and knowledge from one of the most advanced arms companies in the world, said Vuk Vuksanovic, foreign policy lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Israel, on the other hand, is keen to secure a military supply chain outside its immediate region, “which is constantly in a conflict zone”, he told BIRN.
On a geopolitical level, Vuksanovic said Serbia’s ruling elite has come to see Israel as a “shortcut to the White House”, at a time of growing popular dissatisfaction with Vucic and the ruling Progressive Party after 14 years in power.
“The Serbian ruling party’s main priority now is staying in power and in order to achieve that it is best not to anger the Americans, especially in the context of recent Trump moves in the global arena,” he said.
SDPR did not respond to questions from BIRN, while Elbit Systems only replied: “No comment.”
‘Omnipresent killing machines’
The plan for the project, according to documents reviewed by BIRN and corroborated by two independent sources close to the Serbian arms industry, is to produce two types of drones – a rotary-wing model capable of carrying heavy payloads of ammunition on short-range missions and a more sophisticated, long-range drone capable of flying at altitudes of up to 6,000 metres.
One source said the long-range drone is “more advanced” than the Serbian-produced Pegasus. “It has a higher flight altitude and greater operational autonomy,” the source told BIRN on condition of anonymity. “That’s the essence, because we can’t achieve that ourselves.”
“The general idea is the transfer of technology, because Serbian engineers will be working on it as well, and that drone is the crown of the whole story.”
According to one source, engineers from the Serbian aircraft company UTVA, owned by SDPR, will be also involved in the project.
Albanese’s report, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide, mentions drones developed and supplied by Elbit Systems and another Israeli company as flying alongside the Israeli fighter jets that have been bombing Gaza. The drones, she wrote, provide surveillance of Palestinians and intelligence on targets.
With the support of these companies and collaboration with institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, wrote Albanese, “drones used by Israel acquired automated weapons systems and the ability to fly in swarm formation”.
“Drones, hexacopters and quadcopters have also been omnipresent killing machines in the skies of Gaza,” she declared.
Albanese identified Elbit System as among those companies that “contribute to producing the tools for surveillance, crowd control, urban warfare, facial recognition and targeted killing, tools that are effectively tested on Palestinians”.
Israel has dismissed allegations of genocide.
The documents obtained by BIRN reveal it was initially planned for the drone factory to be potentially located in the industrial zone of Simanovci, about 30 kilometres west of the capital, Belgrade, in a facility owned by the Pink Media group, the company of pro-government Serbian media tycoon Zeljko Mitrovic.
However, following publication of the article, Pink Media Group denied that the factory will be located there. “This information is completely false. Neither Zeljko Mitrovic nor Pink Media Group have anything to do with this project. He hasn’t participated, nor is he participating in any talks, negotiations, deals or arrangements related to this drone factory,” the company stated, adding that no company linked to Mitrovic also had any role in the project.
Reputational risk
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, which tracks the global trade in arms, Elbit Systems is Israel’s No. 1 defence contractor, operating in fields including aerospace, land and naval command and control, communications, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
In March, The Jerusalem Post reported that Elbit Systems is now the biggest Israeli firm by market value listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. It has a string of major contracts with the Israeli state and has already done business with Serbia.
Early last year, Elbit Systems sold Serbia advanced artillery systems and drones worth $335 million. In August, another deal valued at $1.6 billion was signed for the delivery of drones, long-range missiles, electronic warfare systems, and other military equipment to Belgrade. The same month, BIRN reported that the Belgrade-based company Edepro – which describes itself as a “regional leader in propulsion system solutions” for rockets, drones, and missiles – had exported goods to IMI Systems, which is owned by Elbit Systems since 2018.
Its role in Gaza has given other state pause. Citing an official document, Agence France-Presse, AFP, reported in September last year that Spain had cancelled a contract worth some 700 million euros for the purchase of Elbit’s multiple rocket launcher system after the government announced a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its Gaza offensive.
Last month, a group calling itself The Earthquake Faction claimed responsibility for a fire at a factory belonging to Czech LPP Holding, which has announced in 2023 that it would partner with Elbit in developing drones. The group said its aim was to disrupt Israeli operations in Gaza.
Such setbacks have not stopped Elbit Systems from posting revenues last year of $7.9 billion, 16.3 per cent up on 2024, boosted further by the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
Visiting in Serbia in March, Albanese described the Balkan country as “one of Israel’s strongest and most determined allies, without any shame”. In response, Serbia’s foreign ministry called her remarks “inappropriate”.
Issues even before Gaza war
In 2009, Norway’s government announced it had excluded Elbit Systems from investment by Government Pension Fund based on a recommendation by the Fund’s Council on Ethics over Elbit’s supplying of surveillance systems for a separation barrier in the West Bank. “We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law,” said Kristin Halvorsen, Norway’s then finance minister.
In January 2010, Danske Bank added Elbit to a list of companies that it said failed its Socially Responsible Investment policy; two months later, a Swedish pension fund also boycotted the firm for its involvement in the construction of the West Bank barrier, which a 2004 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice said contravened international law.
In 2014, one of Denmark’s largest pension fund administrators, PKA Ltd, announced it would no longer consider investing in Elbit, citing the same reasons.
And in 2018, British bank HSBC divested from Elbit following the Israeli firm’s acquisition of IMI Systems. HSBC cited IMI’s production of cluster bombs.
Balkan Insight
The Balkan Insight (formerly the Balkin Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN) is a close group of editors and trainers that enables journalists in the region to produce in-depth analytical and investigative journalism on complex political, economic and social themes. BIRN emerged from the Balkan programme of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IWPR, in 2005. The original IWPR Balkans team was mandated to localise that programme and make it sustainable, in light of changing realities in the region and the maturity of the IWPR intervention. Since then, its work in publishing, media training and public debate activities has become synonymous with quality, reliability and impartiality. A fully-independent and local network, it is now developing as an efficient and self-sustainable regional institution to enhance the capacity for journalism that pushes for public debate on European-oriented political and economic reform.
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