BRUSSELS, 17th July, 2025 (WAM) - A Belgian court has ordered a halt to arms shipments to Israel from the EU's second-largest port, as anti-genocide activists seek legal ways to break Europe's political inertia towards the war in Gaza.

The Brussels Court of First Instance ruled on Thursday, 17 July, that a shipping container of components for Israel's Merkava tanks and Namer armoured vehicles cannot be sent from the port of Antwerp in Belgium, where it's now stuck, to Israel.

The court also ruled that the government of Flanders, a Belgian region which hosts the port, was liable for 50,000 fines for any other container of arms sent to Israel in future, in violation of Flanders' self-imposed arms embargo, which dates back to 2009.

The Belgian court said in its strongly worded verdict that the authorities had a "crushing responsibility" to enforce the rules, given events in Gaza, where Israel has killed over 58,000 people, in what the International Court of Justice said last year was "plausible" genocide.

The judge also said "the situation [on the arms embargo] is not under control", seeing as authorities didn't bother to monitor Antwerp arms shipments, unless shipping companies requested to have their own containers searched.

"The Flemish arms embargo has proven to be an empty shell. It's like asking a poacher to please report his illegal activities to the local police station beforehand," said a Belgian civil society group, 11.11.11, which brought the legal action, along with sister groups Vredeactie, Intal, and the League for Human Rights.

"Politicians are now taking recess, but genocide doesn't take a vacation. This verdict must be the starting point for true political responsibility," 11.11.11 added in a statement.

French and Belgian lawyers in the JURDI Association have also filed an "action for failure to act" to prevent genocide at the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg against the EU Commission and Council.