Dockworkers at the port of Marseille-Fos have refused to load a container allegedly containing parts for machine guns destined for Israel, citing opposition to the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza. The French defence ministry insists the components are sent to Israel for assembly and then sent back to France, or exported to other countries.
The hard-left CGT union representing dockworkers and port personnel at Fos-sur-Mer says the the cargo contains 19 pallets of ammunition belt links manufactured by Eurolinks – a Marseille-based company which produces components for automatic weapons.
The container, which is scheduled to be shipped from the southern French port to the Israeli port of Haifa on Thursday, is currently blocked.
The union said it was able to locate the container after being alerted by several activist networks.
“We will not load it on to the vessel bound for Haifa,” the CGT said in a statement.
Eurolinks produces metallic links used to connect rounds in machine guns, allowing them to be fired in rapid succession.
“These Eurolinks links are spare parts for machine guns used by the Israeli army to continue the massacre of the Palestinian population,” the CGT stated. “The port of Marseille-Fos must not be used to supply the Israeli army... dockworkers and port employees at the Gulf of Fos will not be complicit in the ongoing genocide orchestrated by the Israeli government."
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The French Armed Forces Ministry rejects the union's claims. "France is not supplying weapons to Israel," it told public radio FranceInfo.
In line with the licence given to Eurolinks, the links are assembled in Israel, but the final product is then re-exported back to other countries, including France, the ministry said, adding that Israel remains "a partner".
"We're not going to deprive ourselves of either its technology or its skills," it stated.
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Third delivery this year
This is the third shipment of this type to Israel this year, according to an enquiry by investigative websites Disclose and The Ditch, which had access to maritime data.
The first took place on 3 April, with 20 tonnes of war material, and the second, with 1 million M9 and 1 million M27 bullets, was on 22 May.
"The buyer of these parts is an Israeli arms manufacturer, one of the main suppliers to the Israeli army," Ariane Lavrilleux, a journalist at Disclose, told RFI.
In March 2024, Disclose and another online media outlet Marsactu, claimed the arms were "likely to be used against civilians in the Gaza Strip".
French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed at the time that Eurolinks had sold similar parts to IMI Systems – an Israeli defence firm that identifies itself as a “sole supplier” to the Israeli military.
Lecornu stated that the parts could only be "re-exported" by Israel.
"France has no way of checking whether or not the Israeli manufacturer is re-exporting them," Lavrilleux insists. "There is no absolute proof that these links are being used in Gaza, but there is a serious risk insofar as we know that they are compatible with weapons used against civilians in Gaza."
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Left-wing support
The dockers' action has received support from the left.
"Glory to the dockers in the port of Marseille-Fos... everywhere in the world, the fight is being organised against the genocide in Gaza," Manuel Bompard, an MP with the hard-left France Unbowed party, posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The party's leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, posted a similar message, calling for an "embargo now on the weapons of genocide".
Olivier Faure, head of the Socialist Party, also congratulated the dockers, posting on X that: "Humanism is not for sale."
