"Local Belgian govt suspends arms export licenses to Israel"

The local government of the Walloon Region in Belgium has temporarily suspended two ammunition export licenses to Israel...

The news comes after several rights groups, including Amnesty International, called on Walloonia Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo to cancel the weapons sales. 

The munitions were sent to Israel via the port of Antwerp in November 2023...

“According to official documents, the equipment is not intended for the Israeli armed forces but to be re-exported to the European Union or the United States, according to the licenses granted to the company PB Clermont,” said Christophe Collignon, a minister in the Walloon Parliament. 

Di Rupo's decision was reportedly influenced by the recent ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel. 

“The January 26 order of the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, as well as the unacceptable deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, led the Minister-President to suspend the valid licenses temporarily,” Collignon added. 

The suspension comes just days after Belgium summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest Tel Aviv’s bombing of a Belgian development agency building in Gaza City last week...