A pro-Palestine campaign group in France has filed a legal complaint against FedEx for “complicity in genocide” over its alleged role in the transit of components for Israeli military aircraft operating in Gaza.
The French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP) on Tuesday accused the French subsidiary of the American carrier of “having facilitated the transport, routing and delivery of essential components for fighter jets from the United States to Israel via France”.
They argued the equipment was used to “maintain and repair F-35 fighter jets used by the Israeli Air Force” in “bombing and surveillance missions in Gaza”.
The complaint described these as “acts that could be classified as complicity in war crimes, complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in genocide”.
FedEx France denies the allegations set out in the complaint, which was filed with the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).
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“We do not make international deliveries of weapons or ammunition,” FedEx France told AFP.
The complaint lists 117 shipments sent between early April and late October 2025 from the US to Israel, with a stopover at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, all handled by the company “FedEx Express FR”.
It says 22 of the shipments were directly transported to Israel from Paris, including at least three by FedEx aircraft registered in France.
FedEx “necessarily had knowledge of the contents of the shipments”, the complaint said.
‘If it is established that the French government did indeed grant transit authorisations, they are clearly contrary to international conventions ratified by France’
– Damia Taharraoui, lawyer for UJFP
The complaint is based on a report by a range of pro-Palestinian organisations, including People’s Embargo for Palestine and Urgence Palestine, which tracked the shipments, including some containing mechanical and aeronautical parts described as dual-use – for both civilian and military purposes – and capable of equipping several types of aircraft.
“There’s no place where this could be for civilian use. There are casings, parachutes, destined for military bases. These are parts identified as being useful in F-35 aircraft, and also possibly in F-15s and F-16s,” said Damia Taharraoui, a lawyer for the UJFP, speaking to French outlet Mediapart.
As French regulation requires official authorisation before military or dual‑use goods can be exported, the plaintiffs call for the opening of a judicial investigation to determine whether the French authorities gave FedEx the green light.
“If it is established that the French government did indeed grant transit authorisations, they are clearly contrary to international conventions ratified by France, and primarily the 1948 Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide,” Taharraoui said.
French complicity
France has been largely supportive of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, which has so far seen over 72,500 people killed, most of the enclave reduced to rubble, and been classified as a genocide by a range of rights organisations and international bodies.
The French government has repeatedly denied multiple accusations that it exports arms to Israel, saying it only sells “components” for the Iron Dome air‑defence system and “items intended for re‑export”.
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While Israel announced last month its decision to suspend security imports from France, accusing Paris of maintaining a “hostile” stance towards the country – likely referring to its decision last September to recognise the State of Palestine – the French government has continued to crack down on pro-Palestine campaigns and restrict Palestinian activists’ movements.
Last week, the head of Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq was refused a visa by France, preventing him from attending key briefings at the French parliament, the French foreign ministry and the Council of Europe.
Shawan Jabarin was expected to appear before the European Parliament’s human rights committee in Strasbourg and was scheduled to meet with officials at the French foreign ministry.
However, the general director of Al-Haq, which is based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, had his visa application denied by authorities in Europe and France for the second time since September, when the US sanctioned the Palestinian group.
A representative of Al-Haq told Middle East Eye that Jabarin, who was presented on behalf of Al-Haq with the French republic’s human rights prize in 2018, was also scheduled to attend briefings in the French parliament and in Belgium.
France’s last-minute refusal to grant him a national visa meant that Jabarin could not attend any of these meetings. In 2022, the 66-year-old Palestinian met French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.