Over 1,000 Belgian activists stage mass blockade of companies supplying arms to Israel amid ongoing Gaza genocide

Around 1000 activists blockaded two Belgian companies that provide arms components to Israel on Monday, calling for an end to European complicity in the Gaza genocide.

At 07:45 local time on Monday, around 900 Stop Arming Israel Belgium (SAIB) activists, dressed in white suits, masks, and keffiyehs, swarmed the headquarters of Syensqo in Haren, on the outskirts of Brussels. At least 650 participants were later detained. Some of the arrests were violent.

Syensqo is a Belgian company that produces MTM46 resin for Hermes 450 drones - the model that killed seven aid workers in Gaza last April.

Activists split into four groups: three blockaded three separate entrances and one entered the premises, spray painting messages like ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘They make glue for drones’ on the building. They also hoisted Palestinian flags in place of a company flag.

Earlier that morning, around 100 activists entered a warehouse belonging to OIP Sensory Systems in Tournai (near the French border), a daughter company of Israel’s largest arms supplier, Elbit Systems.

SAIB is calling on the Belgian Government to implement a “genuine” arms embargo on Israel, as opposed to the loose current embargo in place since 2009. It is also demanding the cutting of all ties with Israel over its regime of apartheid and genocide in the Gaza Strip.

“It has been a year and a half of televised genocide, and the Belgian government's position has been too ambiguous,” activist Rose* told The New Arab. “We link that to the fact that there are several companies on Belgian soil that are profiting economically from arms trade with Israel.”

“It is time for citizens to step up and take direct action to have an effective political response. Because so far, Belgian politicians have not been delivering.”

Mass arrests

Dozens of police officers equipped with dogs, riot vans, a helicopter and a water cannon intervened at Syensqo at 10:45. At least 650 participants were detained. Some of the arrests were violent. 

In Tournai, SAIB says 50 people were arrested and one person was hospitalised.

Belgium’s right-wing Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA) called SAIB a “left-wing militia”.

“OIP helps Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggressor with all kinds of military equipment,” he posted on X. “If this were a far-right militia, the country would be in turmoil.”

A Syensqo spokesperson told The New Arab the company is “deeply affected by what is happening in the Middle East” and “complies strictly with all applicable laws and regulations, including international agreements governing many aspects of the defence industry.”

OIP board director Freddy Versluys called the activists “Hamas supporters” in a statement to The New Arab.

“This vandalism is not worthy of people who call themselves peace activists,” he said. “If they took the time to inform themselves, they would see that there is a global ban on the export of weapons systems to Israel from Belgium.” He added that the action had delayed the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.

SAIB says Francken’s and Versluys’ responses “instrumentalise” the war in Ukraine. “OIP is 100% controlled by Elbit, Israel's largest private arms company. Every euro goes to fund a group up to its neck in genocide in Gaza and apartheid in the occupied territories […] We can support the Ukrainian people without collaborating in the genocide of the Palestinian people."

Legal loopholes 

Belgium imposed an arms embargo in 2009, with all three regions agreeing that “no exports will be approved that involve the strengthening of the military capacity of the Israeli armed forces”. Military goods may only be exported to Israel if they are subsequently returned to Belgium or re-exported to another country.

However, several companies continue to engage in the arms trade via legal loopholes, even after the Hamas attack in Israel on 7 October and the ensuing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, where at least 55,000 people have been killed.

For instance, the resin produced by Syensqo is a structural element of a drone, not a military component, so it is exempt from the embargo.

Between October 2023 and December 2024, the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders issued 17 permits worth a total of €22.7 million to export military goods to Israel. Dutch-language broadcaster VRT found that OIP had applied for most of these permits.

Last May, French-language broadcaster RTBF found that at least 70 tonnes of ammunition and explosives had been exported to Israel via Liège Airport since 7 October, with the Israeli government, the Israeli Ministry of Defence or Israeli troops as recipients. This was legal as the material was being “transshipped” – no goods from Belgium were on board.

A ministerial decree then banned transshipment, but the Council of State overturned the decision in April as its opinion had never been sought.

Calls grow for Israel sanctions

On Sunday 15 June, up to 110,000 people had taken part in Belgium’s largest-ever pro-Palestine demonstration.

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés, centrist-liberal) recently acknowledged that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide. However, after the 15 June demonstration he said “Little Belgium will not be able to make Israel bend. That has to happen at the European level.”

SAIB is also calling for sanctions on Israel, including the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a move Belgium has endorsed.

The EU’s foreign service published a non-binding “review” of the agreement on Monday, concluding “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations”.

European Foreign Affairs Ministers discussed the review in Brussels on Monday, but no concrete measures were proposed.

*Real name changed as interviewee requested anonymity

Ciara Carolan is a Brussels-based journalist reporting primarily on human rights. She has written for Al Jazeera, the Irish Independent, and The Brussels Times

Follow her on X: @ccarolan01