6 Countries Stop Arms Sale to Israel as Attack Intensifies in Gaza

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Israel's brutal military offensive in Gaza has opened the eyes of several countries. Many have said they will no longer purchase Israeli weapons. Here are six countries that decided to stop arms sales in Israel:

1. Canada

Canada will stop all arms shipments to Israel, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced on Tuesday, a day after the House of Commons passed a non-binding motion to stop the weapons sales.

“It is a real thing,” Joly told the Toronto Star newspaper.

Campaign groups in Canada have welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government's decision to cease further arms exports to Israel. However, they said the government must make clear if the decision also applies to existing arms export permits.

“Canadian companies have exported over US$84m in military goods to Israel since 2015,” said Michael Bueckert, vice president of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, adding that the government has continued to approve arms exports since the start of the war.

2. Netherlands

On Monday, a court gave the government one week to block all exports of parts for the F-35 fighter jet, which Israel is using to bomb the Gaza Strip. The ruling concerned the lawsuit filed by Dutch humanitarian organizations Oxfam Novib, PAX Netherlands Peace Movement Foundation, and The Rights Forum against the government. The concerns laid out in this lawsuit overlap with the issues the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is considering in South Africa’s apartheid case against Israel. “It is undeniable that there is a clear risk that the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court ruling stated.

3. Belgium

In Belgium, a regional government said it suspended two licenses for the export of gunpowder to Israel on February 6. The regional government reportedly cited the ICJ interim ruling that found Israel may “plausibly” be committing genocide in Gaza.

4. Japan

Japan-based company Itochu Corporation announced on February 5 that it will end its partnership with Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems by the end of February. Itochu chief financial officer Tsuyoshi Hachimura told a news conference that the suspension of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Elbit Systems was based on a request from Japan’s Ministry of Defense and “not in any way related to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine”. 

However, he added: “Taking into consideration the International Court of Justice’s order on January 26, and that the Japanese government supports the role of the Court, we have already suspended new activities related to the MOU, and plan to end the MOU by the end of February.”

5. Italy

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on January 20 that Italy had suspended all shipments of weapons systems or military material to Israel since the outbreak of the war on October 7. This was in response to Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein’s calls on the government to halt the supply of weapons to Israel. However, Guido Crosetto told Parliament that only previously signed orders were being honored after checks had been made to ensure the weapons would not be used against civilians in Gaza.

6. Spain

Spain’s foreign minister said in January the country has not sold any arms to Israel since the start of the war and that there is now an embargo on weapon sales. However, on Monday, the Spanish daily El Diario released a report showing that Spain had exported ammunition worth about US$1.1 million to Israel in November. Spain’s secretary of state for trade justified selling the ammo, telling El Diario that the “material was for tests or demonstrations” and “corresponds to licenses granted before October 7″. 

AL JAZEERA | IDA ROSDALINA

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