Paris
\nFrance has banned Israeli companies from participating in this year\u2019s annual Eurosatory arms and defence industry exhibition in Villepinte near Paris next month, the event\u2019s organisers and French authorities have said.
\n\u201cBy decision of the government authorities, there will be no stand for the Israeli defence industry at the Eurosatory 2024 fair,\u201d organisers Coges Events said on Friday.
\nThe French Defence Ministry suggested that the decision was linked to Paris\u2019s opposition to the continuing Israeli assault on Rafah in southern Gaza.
\n\u201cConditions are no longer met to host Israeli companies at the show at a time when the President is calling for Israel to cease operations in Rafah,\u201d the ministry told the Reuters news agency.
\nSeventy-four Israeli firms were set to attend the event from June 17 to 21 at fairgrounds close to Paris\u2019s main international airport, with Coges previously saying about 10 of them were to exhibit weapons.
\nLast week, a group of activists issued a legal warning and urged Coges to take measures to avoid buying and selling weapons that could be used in \u201ccrimes\u201d committed in Gaza or other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.
\nASER, Stop Arming Israel, Urgency Palestine and the France-Palestine Solidarity Association also warned against profits from the fair \u201creinforcing the economic power of firms likely to participate in these crimes\u201d.
\nCoges told the AFP news agency that it was \u201ca fair solely for the presentation of defence and security equipment \u2026 and in no means a place for deals.\u201d
\nIn a social media post on Friday, Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said he told the French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal that the decision to forbid an Israeli delegation from participating in the defence fair \u201cultimately rewards terror\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris France has banned Israeli companies from participating in this year\u2019s annual Eurosatory arms and defence industry exhibition in Villepinte near Paris next month, the event\u2019s organisers and French authorities have said. \u201cBy decision of the government authorities, there will be no stand for the Israeli defence industry at the Eurosatory 2024 fair,\u201d organisers Coges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-410275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n