French activists urge Macron to halt military cooperation with Israel

French human rights activists have called on President Emmanuel Macron to suspend military cooperation with Israel and to stop exporting weapons used by Israel in what they described as acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to Al-Quds Al-Arabi. 

The group Jurists for the Respect of International Law sent an open letter to Macron, recalling his previous call last year to halt arms supplies to Israel. They said that this call had not been followed by any “effective measures to end the transfer, export, or re-shipment of weapons that could be used in military operations in the Gaza Strip.”

The organisation noted that this inaction comes at a time when the International Court of Justice has repeatedly recognised the possibility that Israel is committing acts of genocide, and has confirmed the binding obligations of all state parties to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The group warned that France risks breaching its mandatory obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, the Genocide Convention, and the Geneva Conventions, all of which require the respect and enforcement of international humanitarian law under all circumstances.

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