Explainer: The countries supplying Israel with weapons for its war on Gaza

Several western countries continue to export arms to Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip which has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

An increasing number of humanitarian organizations, UN agencies and EU officials have called out these countries to halt their weapons supply to Israel as it currently stands trial for genocide at the World Court.

United Kingdom

The UK’s weapons industry provides 15 percent of the components in the F-35 stealth combat aircraft that are currently being used in Gaza, according to a report from Campaign Against Arms Trade. The contract for the components is estimated to be worth nearly $428 million.

Britain has licensed at least $594 million in military exports to Israel since 2015, Human Rights Watch reported in December 2023. These exports included aircraft, missiles, tanks, technology and ammunition.

Between 2018 and 2022, the UK exported $186 million in arms sales via Single Issue Export Licenses; however, according to a House of Commons report from February 2024, a large proportion of military equipment is exported via Open General Export Licenses.

These open licenses – which include the F-35 components – lack transparency and allow for unlimited quantities and value of exports of the specified equipment without further monitoring, the report said.

The UK’s Secretary of State for Defense, Grant Shapps, said the country’s defense exports to Israel are “relatively small,” amounting to $54 million in 2022.

Several UK politicians have asked the government to consider revoking arms export licenses to Israel in relation to the ongoing conflict with Hamas. The UK-based Global Legal Action Network has also applied for a judicial review of the country’s export licenses.

The government has responded to such concerns by referring to the UK’s strategic export licensing system, under which all applications for a license to export military equipment and related items are assessed against a set of criteria – which can be amended as per circumstances – and emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself.

Denmark

A total of 15 Danish companies are supplying components of F-35 fighter jets that were used in Gaza bombings, Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen announced in January.

Last week, a group of NGOs issued a statement saying that they will sue the Danish state to end the Nordic country’s arms exports to Israel, citing concerns that the weapons were being used to commit war crimes against civilians in Gaza.

Oxfam Denmark, ActionAid Denmark, Amnesty International and Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq said in a joint statement that the case has been filed against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police, which approves Danish sales of weapons and military equipment.

For several years, Denmark has allowed Danish companies to export components for F-35 fighter jets through a US-led defense cooperation. The US sells the finished fighter jets to Israel.

Israel is the first country – besides the US – to deploy the fighter jets, according to the NGO statement.

Germany

Nearly 28 percent of Israel’s military exports come from Germany. As of November 2023, the German government approved exports of $323 million worth of equipment to Israel, including tools for defense systems and communications.

In the first few weeks after the start of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, Germany approved 185 additional export license applications related to arms supplies from Israel.

While Germany has mainly approved the shipment of armored vehicles and protective equipment for soldiers to Israel, a report in Spiegel magazine in January stated that the government is reviewing and planning to approve the shipment of sensitive tank ammunition requested by Israel.

France

France has sold over $226 million in military equipment to Israel over the past 10 years, according to the French Ministry of Defense data.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the country “mostly provided military support to Israel.”

There have been growing calls in France to halt weapons’ support to Israel. Members of the left-wing party urged President Emmanuel Macron to stop selling arms to Israel and create transparency regarding what is being sold.

Canada

Since Hamas’ October 7 attack, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has authorized at least $21 million in new permits for military exports to Israel.

According to a lawsuit filed in March by the Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, the Palestinian organization Al-Haq and four individuals, the value of such permits exceeds that which was allowed in the previous year.

Trudeau’s government has come under fire for the country’s continued weapons sale to Israel.

Activists and human rights groups have accused the government of using regulatory loopholes to export military equipment to Israel despite legislations in place that prohibit exporting arms to foreign actors if there is a risk of those being used in human rights abuses.

Australia

Australia has provided Israel with $13 million worth of arms and ammunition over the past five years, including $2.3 million in 2022.

The Australian government is deliberately “going slow” in processing weapons requests from Israel as concerns grow over the rising number of civilian casualties in Gaza, Australian news outlet The ABC reported in January.

Australian Senator David Shoebridge in November called out the country’s “secretive” weapons export system after protests at Australian shipping ports over supplying arms to Israel.

“Few people know that Australia has one of the most secretive, unaccountable weapons export systems in the world,” Shoebridge said.

Determining whether shipments from Australia included weapons that are being sent to Israel is difficult due to a general lack of transparency around the country’s growing military export industry.

Shoebridge said such information is much less available in Australia than in other countries, including the United States.

Australia has issued 350 defense export permits to Israel since 2017, including 52 this year alone, according to the Australian Department of Defense. That information was made publicly available only after direct questions from Shoebridge during Senate hearings last year

United States

Active US military sales to Israel were already $23.8 billion in October 2023.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza, the US has sold an additional $253.5 million in weapons to Israel, including more than 5000 MK-84 bombs weighing 2000 pounds each, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal.

The US is reported to have made more than 100 weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since the start of the Gaza war, but the deliveries escaped congressional oversight because each transaction was under the dollar amount requiring approval.

The Washington Post reported that administration officials informed Congress of the 100 foreign military sales to Israel in a classified briefing. The details of the sales were not known because they were deliberately kept small, but they are reported to have included precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid.

The US provides about $3.8 billion in military and missile defense systems every year to Israel.

In February, a legislation to provide $17.6 billion in additional military assistance to Israel was unveiled in the US House of Representatives. The House with a republican majority had previously approved $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel.