French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, October 5, urged a halt to arms deliveries to Israel, which has been criticized over the conduct of its retaliatory operation in Gaza.

"I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza," Macron told broadcaster France Inter, adding that France was not sending any arms to Israel.

In April, Sébastien Lecornu, the minister for the armed forces, asserted that French exports to Israel represent only a tiny percentage of French defense exports: 0.2%, out of a total of €27 billion in 2022, or around €15 million for arms deliveries, and €34 million, out of a total of €8.8 billion, for so-called "dual-use" goods. These licenses concern "essentially transfers of spare parts," he said.

But these transfers cover a wide range of components, sometimes key to the manufacture of more complex equipment.