“We are so hypocritical in Europe to speak about international law when we speak about Ukraine and Russia, [but] if we don’t have the same [views] when we speak about the Palestinians, we will not have any credit in the future to speak about [it],” Simon Moutquin, a Belgian member of parliament, told Al Jazeera in an interview on Saturday.
More than 200 legislators from countries, which fund Israel militarily, on Friday called for their countries to stop selling weapons to Tel Aviv citing “violations of international law” as Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 30,000 people, most of them civilians.
In a letter signed by parliamentarians from 13 countries, the lawmakers announced that they would not be “complicit” and would take “immediate coordinated action” in their respective legislatures to stop their governments from arming Israel.
The Belgian member of parliament said that his own country had to act to stop Israel as well, citing a “risk of genocide” if countries continue to fund Tel Aviv’s war on Gaza.
“As a signatory country of the Convention Against Genocide, [Belgium has] a legal and moral obligation to act and prevent the risk of genocide, so I think this letter … is a good first step, but we need to go further,” said Moutquin, who raised concerns about an internal split in the European Union that has seen the bloc struggle to address Israel’s war on Gaza cohesively.
Continued military funding for Israel amid Gaza war
The United States is by far the biggest funder of the Israeli military, providing roughly $3bn in aid annually. Presently, US lawmakers are debating an additional $14bn to support Tel Aviv’s operations in Gaza.
Washington sent guided-missile carriers and F-35 fighter jets, as well as other military equipment to Tel Aviv in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, and Tel Aviv’s subsequent declaration of war on the Gaza Strip. Some 68 percent of Israel’s weapons imports between 2013 and 2022 came from the US.
Tel Aviv also relies on German weapon imports, primarily air defence systems and communications equipment. In total, Germany provides 28 percent of Israel’s military imports, although that rose nearly tenfold between 2022 and 2023 after Berlin ramped up sales to Israel in November.
The United Kingdom, Canada, France and Australia among others also provide military support to Israel.
