French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to public broadcaster France Inter, announced that France should no longer deliver weapons to Israel on Saturday and urged other countries to halt arms deliveries to Israel for the escalation of its war in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rebuked Macron for the proposed arms embargo, noting that Israel “will win with or without their support”.

In September, Macron stated that “the human toll on civilian populations is intolerable” and called for a two-state solution. Since the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in September, Macron issued multiple statements calling for a ceasefire and condemning Israel, stating that “Lebanon must not become the new Gaza”.

Amidst the escalating situation and reports of civilian death tolls, Israel has faced mounting international pressure to comply with international humanitarian law. Israel faces ongoing charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice, and it has been ordered to prevent a genocide in Gaza.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, “in the past decade Israel has greatly increased its imports of arms”. Israel’s largest suppliers are the US and Germany, accounting for nearly 99% of its major arms imports. The supplies increased rapidly since the Israel-Hamas war started in October 2023. France has not exported major arms to Israel since 1998, but continued to supply some basic weapons components until Macron’s announcement.

On September 26, France issued a joint statement with the US and other Western countries, urging for an immediate ceasefire in the Lebanon-Israel conflict.

Despite international pressure to de-escalate, the conflict has intensified in the Middle East, causing fears of a wider regional war. After the recent assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah, Iran fired large scores of ballistic missiles into Israeli territory.