It remains unclear why France continues to export weapons or any "dual-use" equipment to Israel that can be used in a military context. It also remains unknown whether French companies have reviewed any export licenses that were authorized before the latest "war" began.
Per France24, in an openly published letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron, the head of Amnesty International in France, Jean-Claude Samouiller, urges the suspension of all weapon sales and military equipment to Israel.
MPs from the far-left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise or LFI) party have repeatedly questioned members of the government over continuing French military exports to Israel.
The calls for transparency only continue to intensify as the Israeli onslaught rages on in Gaza. Mathilde Panot, the president of the LFI parliamentary group, asked Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné during a February 15 session in parliament whether France was arming Israel and called for a suspension of any such sales.
"Has France continued providing weapons to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Mister minister, can you say with certainty that no French military component is being used in Gaza in any war crime that is being committed? When will you declare an arms embargo?" she asked, adding: "Charles de Gaulle did it [in 1967]. Emmanuel Macron must do it."
She also pressed the foreign minister to provide a comprehensive list of weapons and other equipment supplied to Israel.
"Concerning weapons, I will revert back to you to give you a number, because I don't have it here," Séjourné replied.
In a written response to a question for French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu and submitted by LFI MP Aurélien Saintoul, Lecornu said that France does not export "weapons, strictly speaking, but rather elementary components."
When weapons authorized for export, Lecornu said, they "are intended purely for defensive purposes," citing the example of a type of missile used by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system.
Saintoul, who sits on the parliamentary defense commission, has repeatedly asked to question the defense minister, to no avail.
In an email to FRANCE 24, the defense ministry stressed that all requests for military equipment exports are subjected to "robust checks."
Where's the transparency?
The answer to whether or not French companies are still exporting any weaponry equipment to the state of Israel isn't so simple.
According to France24, any export of military equipment by a French or France-based company must be vetted by the Inter-ministerial Commission for war materials exports.
Thomas Portes, another MP from LFI, last week launched a petition calling for transparency on the issue and urging the authorities to stop exporting military equipment to Israel.
In a phone interview with the news publication, Portes said the government's responses are "never precise, they never include any numbers ... and so there is a kind of omerta surrounding this arms issue."
"At the very least, I want there to be a public debate in France on whether today we accept, yes or no - as MPs, but beyond this, do citizens accept that France delivers weapons to the Israeli state in light of what the Israeli army is committing in the Gaza Strip?"
French law states that the country must release a report every year to parliament detailing any such exports.
In the latest report submitted to the French parliament, one number stands out: €207.6 million in equipment sold to Israel over the past ten years.
