On 15 October, shipping company UPS took receipt of sensitive goods to be delivered at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport (Roissy). The consignment included eight packages. Inside were electric generators or “alternators” made by Sermat, a company specialising in “the manufacture of electromechanisms for the aerospace, military and space industries”. The alternators are to be flown on 20 October. Their intended destination is armament company Elbit Systems in Karmiel, northern Israel. Our investigation has revealed that the type of alernators being shipped is designed to equip Hermes 900 drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS). 

The delivery, a week after the adoption of Donald Trump’s peace plan and the coming into effect of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, will be the latest in a long series. Our investigation has revealed that over the past two years, the French manufacturer has delivered 29 alternators to Elbit Systems, one of the Jewish state’s main arms suppliers. And there is more: Sermat also delivered 171 actuators to its Israeli client. These are electric motors used for the “stabilisation and accurate control” of UAVs, according to the manufacturer. Close to half the actuators have been delivered by airfreight since 2024. The consignments are worth €843,300.  

After Eurolinks’ machine gun ammunition links, transponders for UAVs delivered by French group Thales in early 2024 and Aubert & Duval gun tubes, which were supposed to leave the port of Fos-sur-mer in June 2025 but were intercepted by dockers, Disclose can reveal a fourth secret contract between a French company and an arms supplier to the Israeli armed forces. The deal was struck although the International Court of Justice has warned against the risk of genocide against Palestinians since 26 January 2024, and despite the fact that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu repeated on 14 October before the National Assembly that no “French weapon has been shipped to be used by the Israeli Defense Forces”. He did not give any guarantees.

Our investigation has revealed that the consignment of alternators is to equip Hermes 900 UAVs. The aircraft, which can fly for more than 30 hours, have been deployed in large numbers in Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive in response to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks. They may be armed with missiles and air-delivered bombs such as Mikholit. Debris from such bombs has been identified by US researcher Trevor Ball following several attacks on civilians, such as the attack on a humanitarian convoy which killed nine people, including three journalists, on 15 March this year.  

It is difficult, however, to know with certainty for what type of UAVs the French-made actuators are meant. Sermat did not respond to several requests for comment. Our investigation has shown that the parts are designed to equip several pilotless aircraft made by Elbit Systems, including the Hermes 900 and the Hermes 450. The latter was used, among other occasions, during an air strike which killed seven members of humanitarian NGO World Central Kitchen on 1 April 2024, according to Israeli media outlet Haaretz. 

The parts may also be fitted into a surveillance UAV based on the Hermes 450 called Watchkeeper. The aircraft, built in partnership with Thales, is for the British armed forces. Sermat did not answer our requests for comment.  

The state turns a blind eye

Has the French state been informed of the planned delivery on 20 October? And was it aware of the previous deliveries? The armed forces and economy ministries did not respond to our request for comment. However, documents seen by Disclose suggest that the authorities have been turning a blind eye for years. According to these confidential written documents, Sermat’s actuators are not classified by the French authorities as military equipment or dual-use items, i.e. equipment that may be used for civilian or military purposes. This means that the French company does not need to ask for an authorisation to export the equipment to Israel.

The decision is believed to date back to January 2012. At the time, actuators meant for Elbit Systems were stuck in customs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport because, officers said, they needed to be classified as dual-use items. Sermat contacted the economy ministry and its dual-use items department (SBDU). The exporter rejected the classification, argueing that the goods were meant for unarmed surveillance drones. The ministry found in its favour three weeks later, against the advice of customs officials. In other words, Sermat is not required to apply for an export licence for its actuators. Is this a case of negligence, a deliberate choice or mere procedural logic? Has the government seen fit to think again, given that Hermes UAVs may be armed since 2014? The ministry did not answer our request for comment.

French stubbornness

Unlike other European countries such as Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, which have suspended all or some of their military equipment deliveries to Israel, France has not severed links. Yet it is signatory to international conventions which provide a strict framework for such exports and ban arms exports to countries where there is a risk they may be used against civilians. In 2024, French-made arms worth €27.1m were delivered in Israel on the ground that they would be used to defend the Jewish state or would be re-exported to third countries, according to the latest report to Parliament on France’s arms exports. The government has also authorised the sale of dual-use items for a total of €74m.  

The government’s stubbornness may lead to the French state being prosecuted. In May this year, France’s Association of Jurists for the Respect of International Law (JURDI) brought the matter before the Council of state, accusing the authorities of “exceeding their powers” by “failing to take effective measures to prevent genocide,” explains Alfonso Dorado, a lawyer and a member of JURDI. Given that there has been no reaction from the judiciary or the government, the association wants to hit the state where it hurts – the wallet – to compel it to take action.  On 1 September, it lodged a compensatory appeal before the Paris administrative tribunal. The association is seeking a penalty payment of €10,000 per day of non-action by the state from the time the tribunal delivers its verdict, assuming that it will rule in JURDI’s favour. Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “delight at the ceasefire holding and the hostages being freed” when he travelled to Egypt on 13 October in the framework of the peace plan.  

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Investigation: Antoine Hasday  
Editor-in-Chief: Ariane Lavrilleux 
Editing: Mathias Destal
Translation from French: Béatrice Murail  
Composite image: Caroline Varon