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Israeli Arms Firm Threatens to Sue France Over Blocked Off Booths at Paris Air Show

View of the closed IAI stand at the 55th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport on June 16, 2025. Photo: Facebook/Israel Ministry of Defense

The Israeli weapons company Rafael said it will sue the French government for closing off its stand at the 55th Paris Air Show this week because of “offensive” items on display amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

Since the start of the world’s biggest aviation trade show on Monday in Le Bourget Airport, four of the nine Israeli companies presenting at the event — Rafael, Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and UVision — have been completely blocked off behind black walls, which were erected by event organizers on behalf of the French government. French authorities claimed Israel was displaying “offensive” weapons systems in violation of an agreement with the Israeli government.

“Offensive weapons equipment marketed by the firms could not be exhibited, given the situation in Gaza,” said French authorities.

“France considers that this is a terrible situation for the Gazans, a situation from a human and humanitarian point of view, from a security point of view, extremely heavy,” French Prime Minister François Bayrou said during a visit to the air show. “France wanted to demonstrate that offensive weapons should not be present in this show.”

When the four Israeli firms refused to remove the equipment from display, exhibition organizers blocked off the booths in the middle of the night on Sunday, leading into the show’s opening on Monday morning. More barricades were added to close off the entrance to the booths, as shown in videos shared on Facebook by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD).

“I assure you that we will sue the French government for what they have done to us,” Rafael’s Executive Vice President Shlomo Toaff told Euronews. “We are going to sue them for causing financial damage, for not giving us access to the property that we had rented. We think this is an unjust decision. We’re not getting equal rights like the other exhibitors.”

Israeli defense companies petitioned to a French court earlier this week to reverse the ban on its display of weapons and the blocking of Israeli pavilions at the Paris Air Show, but the court ruled that it does not have the authority to intervene in the decision made by the French government, the IMOD said on Tuesday.

IMOD Director General, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram condemned the “absolutely, bluntly antisemitic” decision by the French government to block Israeli pavilions at the show. He accused France of “commercial exclusion to prevent successful Israeli industries from competing with French ones.”

“It’s regrettable and immoral to see discrimination based on extraneous considerations that mask French economic interests aimed at undermining the competition from the Israeli industry,” Baram said. “The scandalous French decision will achieve the opposite result. Despite the French attempt to harm us, visitors, including heads of state and military leaders from around the world, flocked to the Israeli industry pavilions, proving that Israeli defense systems are more sought-after and attractive than ever. The entire world sees the exceptional achievements of Israeli systems in Iran and other arenas. Battlefield performance speaks for our products far better than any exhibition on French soil.”

Toaff told Euronews that his company rented a booth at the Paris Air Show a year prior, submitted blueprints to event organizers months ago, and the equipment cleared French customs. “We invested a lot of money in getting this booth and a lot of effort in preparing for it. I can’t tell you the exact cost, but we’re talking millions of euros,” said Toaff.

“I was totally disappointed,” Sasson Meshar, senior vice president for Airborne Electro-Optics Systems at Elbit, told Euronews. “We invested a lot of money in the exhibition.”

“We don’t understand the logic of the decision, because from our perspective, it’s discrimination, because everybody around is showing the same systems,” he added. “It’s a defense, military system, and that’s what we are showing. We are not all here for some kind of flower exhibition.”

In a statement on Monday, Israel’s Ministry of Defense accused the French government of “hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition — weapons that compete with French industries.”

“This is particularly striking given Israeli technologies’ impressive and precise performance in Iran,” the ministry stated, alluding to the Israel-Iran war that started mere days before the Air Show.

US Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned the move by the French government as “pretty absurd,” according to Reuters.

Earlier this month, a court in Paris rejected a request by several companies to ban Israel from this year’s Paris Air Show.

The 55th Paris Air Show runs from Monday through Thursday for trade visitors only, but will open to the general public from Friday through Sunday. The event is organized by SIAE, a subsidiary of the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS). This year’s show included 2,500 exhibitors from 48 countries.

The post Israeli Arms Firm Threatens to Sue France Over Blocked Off Booths at Paris Air Show first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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UN Data: Nearly 90 Percent of Gaza Aid ‘Intercepted’ Before Reaching Intended Recipients

Palestinians collect aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

The vast majority of humanitarian aid entering Gaza is intercepted before reaching its intended civilian recipients, newly released data from the United Nations shows, fueling growing concerns among Israeli officials and international observers about systemic aid diversion by armed groups in the enclave.

According to figures tracking humanitarian assistance for Gaza from May 19 to Aug. 1 of this year, out of the 2,010 UN trucks (carrying 27,434 tons of aid) collected from any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter, only 260 trucks (4,111 tons) reached their intended destination. That equates to a staggering 87 percent of all trucks and 85 percent of all tonnage of aid being stolen and not getting into the hands of civilians at the intended destination.

The UN’s own data, posted on the website of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as part of the “UN2720 Monitoring & Tracking Dashboard,” reveals that almost all the aid — 1,753 trucks (23,353 tons) — has been “intercepted, either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors” while being transported inside Gaza over the past few months.

No breakdown is provided of how much aid has been seized by armed groups versus civilians.

The data also shows that much of the UN aid offloaded at any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter has not been collected to enter the war-torn enclave during this period. Out of 40,012 tons of aid (2,134 trucks) being delivered to the crossings, just 27,434 tons (2010 trucks) have been picked up. It’s unclear what exactly led to this discrepancy, with issues such as poor internal coordination and security concerns potentially delaying aid shipments.

The UN2720 mechanism, created earlier this year, was intended to boost transparency by verifying and tracking aid shipments via QR codes at key checkpoints. The system monitors each pallet from offloading to delivery and flags any discrepancies in a centralized database.

Israel has facilitated the entry of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, with Israeli officials condemning the UN and other international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies, noting much of the humanitarian assistance has been stalled at border crossings or stolen by the ruling Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

On Sunday, Israel announced a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors as Arab and European countries began airdropping supplies into the enclave.

However, the UN and several Western governments have increased pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, blaming the Jewish state for what they described as a hunger crisis and insufficient amounts of aid reaching civilians.

Israeli officials have said that claims of mass starvation in Gaza are false and being amplified by not only Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, but also international humanitarian organizations and media organizations to manipulate global opinion.

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Dutch Nurse Under Police Investigation for Alleged Threats Against Israeli Patients

Pro-Hamas demonstrators march in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. Photo: Reuters/Romy Arroyo Fernandez

A Muslim nurse in the Netherlands is under police investigation after allegedly threatening to administer lethal injections to Israeli patients — an incident that has sparked public outrage and intensified fears over rising antisemitism and patient safety in Europe’s health-care systems.

The comments were widely circulated by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, who also exposed a recent case in Australia where two nurses were suspended for two years over antisemitic threats and remarks.

In a video shared on social media, Veifer denounced Dutch-Muslim nurse Batisma Chayat Sa’id’s remarks as a serious violation of medical ethics.

“Someone like that should be prosecuted and barred from treating patients. Imagine your grandparents being cared for by someone so hateful,” the Israeli influencer said.

The incident was sparked when an Israeli-Dutch woman living in the Netherlands commented on a social media post by far-right politician Geert Wilders, who cautioned about what he called the country’s looming radical Islamization by 2050.

A social media account belonging to the Muslim nurse also commented on the post, claiming it would happen by 2027, to which the Israeli woman responded, “Your dream is our nightmare. But people wake up from nightmares. Our Netherlands, our Israel.”

“Nothing belongs to you! My grandparents built the Netherlands. I was born and raised here, and I will do everything in my power to help this country get rid of the Zionist cancer,” the nurse further replied.

“You know what I’m doing with Zionists — giving an extra injection as a nurse specialist. Letting them go to heaven!” Sa’id continued.

When the Israeli woman threatened to report her, Sa’id replied: “Haha, try your best! I don’t have a boss — I’m the boss! All Zionists can die, inside healthcare and beyond, and I’m happy to help with that!”

Shortly after her posts gained widespread attention, Sa’id deleted all her social media accounts, insisting that her identity had been stolen and that she was not responsible for such comments.

On Wednesday, local police detained Sa’id for questioning, but she denied the allegations, asserting that someone had impersonated her online.

“It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” the nurse said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”

Even after announcing plans to file an identity theft complaint, she faces skepticism from authorities, who have assigned a digital forensics expert to scrutinize her online accounts.

Last year, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”

Earlier this year, two Australian nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — gained international attention after they were seen in an online video posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements during a night-shift conversation with Veifer.

The widely circulated footage, which sparked international outrage and condemnation, showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.

Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide.

They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.

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French Authorities Halt Gaza Evacuations After Palestinian Student Expelled Over Viral Antisemitic Posts

Anti-Israel demonstration supporting the BDS movement, Paris France, June 8, 2024. Photo: Claire Serie / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect

French authorities have halted evacuations from Gaza after a Palestinian student was expelled from the prestigious Sciences Po Lille and placed under investigation, following the viral circulation of hundreds of antisemitic posts praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and calling for the murder of Jews.

The incident drew widespread condemnation and public outrage, prompting French ministers to demand answers and call for an investigation into how the Gazan student was allowed into the country in the first place.

On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that all further evacuations from Gaza would be suspended pending the completion of the investigation into the student’s background.

After receiving a scholarship, 25-year-old Nour Atalla, a Palestinian from Gaza, arrived in the country in early July to begin her master’s degree in law and communications this fall at the Institute of Political Science in Lille, northern France.

Barrot confirmed that discussions are ongoing about the student’s possible return to Gaza, making clear that she must leave the country pending the investigation’s outcome.

“She has no place at Sciences Po, nor in France,” the top French diplomat said.

On Thursday, local authorities reported that a criminal investigation is underway into Atalla, with the public prosecutor in Lille confirming the case was opened for “apology of terrorism, apology of crimes against humanity using an online public communication service.”

Barrot admitted lapses in the screening process that allowed her entry and has mandated a comprehensive review of everyone evacuated from Gaza to France.

“The security checks, carried out by the French services and Israeli authorities, did not detect the antisemitic content,” the French diplomat said.

Atalla is one of 292 Gazans admitted to the country following a court ruling that opened the door for Gazans to seek refugee status based on their nationality.

She was offered a place at Sciences Po Lille University based on “academic excellence” and following a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem.

On Wednesday, the university announced it had revoked Atalla’s enrollment after hundreds of her past antisemitic and violent social media posts went viral, sparking widespread condemnation from political leaders and members of the local Jewish community.

In several of these posts, she glorified Hitler, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, called for the execution of Israeli hostages and the killing of Jews, and expressed support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

In one post, Atalla shared a video of Hitler giving a speech about Jews, writing, “Kill their young and their old. Show them no mercy … And kill them everywhere.”

In another post shared on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, she wrote, “We must do everything we can to match the bloodshed — as much as possible.”

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