'Israel’s' arms industry benefits from brutal military occupation

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
23 Feb 2024 17:23

The ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza seems to serve as the latest testing ground for the Israeli arms industry.

People search for survivors and the bodies of victims through the rubble of buildings destroyed during an Israeli air strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 26, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)

As the genocidal war by "Israel" against Palestinians in Gaza persists, the Israeli arms industry showcased "field-tested" weapons at the Singapore Airshow.

The Israeli Ministry of Security and 11 arm contractors, including "Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and Elbit Systems ESLT.TA," participated in Asia's premier aerospace and defense event, Reuters reported.

#Israeli companies Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are flogging their weapons at the Singapore Airshow. They have a distinct marketing advantage. Their product has already been tested on humans. pic.twitter.com/sqxog5zzA1
— ً (@McShayne2011) February 20, 2024

However, IAI, Rafael, Elbit, and the Israeli Security Ministry refrained from commenting on the ongoing aggression on Gaza, including the performance of their weaponry.

“We don’t discuss weapons,” Ziv Avni, vice president of business development at Elbit, said as quoted by Reuters at the display of its latest aerial drone, which a placard indicated that it could carry “loitering munitions for covert and precise air strikes."

Israeli weaponry and ammunition undergo "field-testing" in the occupied territories, such as Gaza, as disclosed by Yotam Feldman in his 2013 documentary "The Lab". Critics argue that this is a motivating factor for "Israel" to sustain its harsh military occupation, asserting that the arms industry reaps benefits from the ongoing genocide.

Singapore Airshow as an opportunity for the IOF, regardless of its culpability in the #gazagenocide, to demonstrate its power. https://t.co/wwwpgJ2TIm https://t.co/xuJz3IPS7A pic.twitter.com/Lb8fNqqIKY
— Daniel Ananda Pradipta 🔻 (@AnandaPradip) February 22, 2024

Additionally, the Israeli economy, which contracted by nearly 20 percent in the final quarter of 2023 due to the current aggression, led Moody’s to downgrade the deposit ratings of Israeli top five banks, marking the first such downgrade in the entity's history. While Singapore prohibits unauthorized public assemblies and protests related to political situations in other countries, online criticism emerged regarding the presence of Israeli arms firms at the airshow.

The genocide in Gaza and 'Israel's' new weapons

Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Health, stated in a press release last November that the medical teams in Gaza had noted significant burns on the bodies of Palestinians who were either killed or injured by Israeli bombs. Whether these burns were caused by an unidentified weapon or not, Al-Qudra emphasized that such observations were unprecedented in comparison to previous aggressions.

A #Palestinian girl from the #Gaza Strip smiles proudly despite the pain she suffers from burns caused by the bombs that Israeli army still use in the Gaza Strip#Israel 🇮🇱 is a Nazi terror entity. How can someone with human heart support this? pic.twitter.com/v0AM9frJR6
— MALCOLM X ✊✊🏿✊🏻✊🏽✊🏼✊🏾 (@Sulu_News) February 22, 2024

The presence of enigmatic incendiary bombs, the debut of the Iron Sting, and the reported deployment of the new Spark drone in the ongoing genocide reportedly indicate that "Israel" is once more experimenting with and testing novel weaponry during its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

In the same context, a video circulating on social media showcased earlier this month that Israeli soldiers tested a new remotely-controlled weapon against a civilian in the occupied West Bank.