Belgium's Walloon gov't suspends ammunition exports to Israel over Gaza war, ICJ ruling

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – Belgium's Walloon regional government has suspended two licenses for ammunition exports to Israel, an official announced.

In parliament on Monday, Housing Minister Christophe Collignon disclosed the suspension when answering a question on behalf of Elio Di Rupo, the minister-president of Wallonia, one of Belgium’s three regions.

Collignon said Di Rupo decided to temporarily suspend two licenses given to the company PB Clermont following last month’s International Court of Justice's provisional ruling on Israel, as well as the "unacceptable deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip."

He stressed that Wallonia has been “committed since 2009 to not export military materials that would strengthen Israel's military capacities."

Two licenses were granted to PB Clermont in early 2023, he said, adding that documents clearly mention the final users of the ammunition produced. "Those are exclusively European countries, including Belgium," he said, stressing that those materials are exported to EU or the US after being processed in Israel.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in which Tel Aviv says nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed.

At least 27,585 Palestinians have been killed and 66,978 others injured in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.