Above photo: Clement Mahoudeau/AFP via Getty Images.
French Dock Workers Block Arms Shipment To Israel.
Amnesty International has warned that France is ‘fueling genocide’ in Gaza by allowing the shipments to continue.
French dock workers in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, are blocking the shipment of military equipment bound for Israel, protesting the Israeli military’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, France 24 reported on 6 June.
The action, led by members of the CGT trade union, halted the loading of 19 pallets of bullet links—metal components used to enable rapid machine gun fire—onto a cargo vessel on Thursday.
Christophe Claret, a union representative, confirmed that the shipment was identified and set aside after workers were notified of its contents.
“Once dockers refuse to load a shipment, no one else can do it for them,” Claret told AFP. The remaining cargo for the vessel was loaded as scheduled.
The CGT issued a statement denouncing the delivery and declaring it would not be complicit in what it called “the ongoing genocide orchestrated by the Israeli government.” Eurolinks, a Marseille-based defense supplier, manufactured the metal links. The company declined to comment on the incident, and the Port of Marseille-Fos also issued no statement.
Human rights groups have voiced support for the dock workers. Anne Savinel-Barras, president of Amnesty International France, condemned the deliveries as being carried out “in opacity” and in contradiction with recent remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who has expressed horror at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“If France continues to authorize the delivery of war material to Israel, it is fueling this genocide,” Savinel-Barras said, urging the government to impose a full arms embargo.
CGT Secretary General Sophie Binet praised the dock workers for upholding international law and moral responsibility, stating, “It is unacceptable that CGT dockers should be the ones forced to uphold the fundamental principles of international law and French values.”
Left-wing political figures, including Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, also expressed support. “Humanism is not for sale,” Faure said.
Investigative outlet Disclose reported that similar arms shipments from Fos-sur-Mer to Haifa occurred on 3 April and 22 May. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu had previously claimed that such parts were intended for re-export through Israel, not for use by the Israeli military—a claim met with skepticism by critics.
The protest highlights growing tension in France over arms exports and their potential role in the conflict in Gaza, as public and political pressure mounts on the government to reassess its military ties with Israel.
BREAKING: French dock workers in Fos-sur-Mer refused today to load machine gun ammo destined for Israel’s army.
Now, push that ammo from the gangway to the sea. pic.twitter.com/RMopwPmUb3— @SavagePardon (@savagepardon) June 6, 2025
The Genoa Port Workers’ Collective (CALP) in Italy plans to follow suit, announcing on Thursday it would block the ZIM Contship Era from docking when it arrives in Genoa while in transit to Israel’s Haifa port.
“We oppose all wars and refuse to be complicit in the genocide in Gaza,” CALP said in a statement.
The Italian dock workers are calling for a general strike on 20 June under the slogan “Disarm them.”
Israeli forces have killed an estimated 109,000 Palestinians since the start of the war in October 2023. Israeli leaders have said they intend to destroy Gaza and ethnically cleanse the strip of its over 2 million residents in preparation for establishing Jewish settlements.
French woman takes Israeli officials to court over murder of grandchildren in Gaza
The landmark case follows other probes in Latin American and Asian courts targeting Israeli war criminals
On 6 June, a French grandmother filed a complaint against Israeli authorities for murder and genocide after her two Palestinian-French grandchildren, aged six and nine, were killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza on 24 October 2023.
French national Jacqueline Rivault filed the complaint in Paris on Friday with the Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH), accusing Israeli authorities of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide – the first complaint of its kind filed in French courts based on victims’ nationality.
The complaint calls for the appointment of an investigating judge, as the victims’ French nationality could give French courts direct jurisdiction to examine the genocide accusations.
According to the LDH, the goal is to help hold both soldiers and officials accountable for what it calls an ongoing genocide in Gaza targeting the entire civilian population.
The 43-page complaint, shared with Middle East Eye, says Israeli airstrikes after 7 October forced the family to seek shelter in a house between Fallujah and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
The house was then hit by two F-16 missiles – one through the roof and the other directly into the bedroom where the family was staying.
Rivault’s grandson, Abderrahim, died instantly, and her granddaughter Janna died soon after reaching the hospital. Their younger brother Omar was seriously injured but survived, along with their mother, Yasmine Z., both still in Gaza.
The filing accuses Israel of genocide, framing the bombing as part of a wider plan to destroy the Palestinian population.
Although filed against unnamed individuals, the complaint specifically names Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, members of his government, and the Israeli army.
It cites statements by political and military leaders – especially Netanyahu – as evidence of intent to destroy the Palestinian people.
Rivault’s lawyer, Arie Alimi, said the goal is to secure the arrest of those responsible.
The complaint aligns with a growing international push to hold Israeli officials accountable through national courts.
The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has launched nearly 100 cases in 14 countries under universal jurisdiction, targeting Israeli soldiers and commanders for war crimes and genocide in Gaza.
The foundation, named after the six-year-old girl killed by Israeli troops, has gathered thousands of video and photo records as evidence, and has already led to judicial investigations in Cyprus and Brazil.
Rivault’s case marks France’s first entry into this global legal trend, leveraging the victims’ French nationality to open the door to prosecution.
In May, Peru opened a war crimes probe into an Israeli soldier after a case filed by HRF’s local council, the first of its kind in South America.
Earlier in January, HRF filed a similar complaint in Thailand against an Israeli soldier on holiday, part of the foundation’s expanding legal campaign across multiple countries.
These efforts underscore growing momentum among victims and legal advocates to hold Israeli decision-makers and soldiers accountable in national and international courts.
But the international legal campaign has drawn fierce backlash from Washington.
On 5 June, the US sanctioned four ICC judges for authorising war crimes investigations into Israeli and US forces, freezing their assets and cutting them off from the US financial system.
Two were targeted over a 2020 probe into US actions in Afghanistan, while the others approved 2024 arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over Gaza.
The ICC condemned the move as an attack on its independence. UN rights chief Volker Turk warned that targeting judges undermines the rule of law. The US defended the sanctions under a Trump-era order, claiming the ICC has no authority over Washington or Tel Aviv.
Despite these political obstacles, human rights lawyers involved in the Hind Rajab Foundation and the French filing maintain that legal efforts are slowly building pressure. “It’s an important fight,” said Rivault’s lawyer. “And we intend to see it through.”
