Although the Australian government denies exporting weapons used in the genocide in Gaza, it supplies weapons parts. Kellie Tranter of Declassified Australia has the receipts.
The saga of Australia’s illegal ongoing supply of goods and technology that support Israel’s continuing illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, if not its genocide of the Palestinian people and other war crimes, continues.
Declassified Australia has exclusively obtained the list of Australian export approvals to Israel for the 18 months following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. It provides “Goods Descriptions included in Export Declaration forms” to Israel for the period from 7 October 2023 to 29 March 2025.
The extensive list provides further evidence that Australia is in breach of its duty under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention to “undertake to prevent and punish” the crime of genocide and to employ all means reasonably available to it to prevent genocide so far as possible.
It indicates that Australia has not used its capacity to influence effectively the actions of Israeli persons likely to commit or already committing genocide, and that Australia has not, in accordance with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, been abstaining from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel which may entrench its unlawful presence in Occupied Palestine.
The 90-page list provided to Declassified Australia by the Department of Home Affairs under Freedom of Information laws describes a smorgasbord of thousands of goods being exported directly to Israel, from electronics and communication equipment, satellite modems, tunnelling machinery parts, public works machinery, industrial machinery and parts, agricultural equipment, seeds and fertilisers, and iron and steel through to aircraft parts, engines and airfield mounting tiles and solar lights.
The list typically is terse and lacks names of suppliers or recipients and other detail so it is necessary to consider various conceded supplies in terms of their purposes and function, and from there investigate the illegal uses to which they may be put.
Declassified Australia has put a series of questions to the Defence Department (see bottom of this article) about several of these exports to Israel. Some examples of items exported raise serious questions for the Australian government.
‘T 2000 UAVL transponders’
Transponders transmit the position and altitude of aircraft and assist in identifying them on air traffic control radar. In drones, transponders provide collision avoidance and situational awareness capabilities, helping the drone maintain a safe distance from other drones or aircraft.
In 2021, Michelle Fahy, an independent writer and researcher, reported on the Brisbane company Microair Avionics manufactured transponder, T2000 UAVL, which turned up in a downed drone in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
At the time Israel was reportedly the second largest supplier of weaponry to Azerbaijan, indicating the Australian company may have exported its drone transponders to Israel.
Not Just Careless: Australian weapons part turns up on Armenian battlefield
The company Microair Avionics refused to disclose the identity of the original buyer of the transponder identified in Azerbaijan. However, the Microair Avionics website previously listed Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defence Systems as “one of the company’s military industry ‘partners’, of which it has many”.
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) definitionally applies to [lethal] drones, even though it doesn’t mention them by name.
The 90-page list, obtained by Declassified Australia, contains many thousands of items declared as exports from Australia to Israel since October 7, 2023. A link is provided below to the document to aid further research on Australia’s exports to Israel.
Fresh evidence of Australian weapons being exported to Israel has been made public, showing an Australian-made ‘lethal’ remote weapons system being used in Israel, earlier this year. pic.twitter.com/ykTeLZnFST
— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) April 11, 2025
When pressed by Greens Senator David Shoebridge as to whether as at 14 June 2024, Australia was providing Israel either directly or indirectly with conventional arms and parts and components of conventional arms as defined by the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the Defence official responded:
“We would say the export permits that we have where Israel is a destination country relate to parts, component parts or full systems that would relate to DGSL list 1 or 2, but we would not regard them as in and of themselves as conventional arms..”
Given that concession and the fact of the Australian parts and components supply to Israel, it is imperative that the Australian Government, which proclaims ad nauseam its compliance with international law, to provide evidence that no UAV transponders exported from Australia have been used by Israel in conventional weapons or in armed or unarmed UAVs that overfly Palestinian lands.
‘Steel plates’
The 90-page list includes articles of aluminium, alloy steel, iron and steel products, bearings, machinery parts, and it lists an ANCA MX7 linear motor machine, which is a versatile tool grinder designed for production grinding and steel plates.
It is publicly known that Bisalloy, an Australian company located in Wollongong, has a partnership with Rafael, the Israeli defence systems company, whereby it supplies high-strength steel plates for Rafael’s add-on armour systems.
The Australian Government needs to rule out that such components have not been incorporated into Israeli military equipment, used in the genocidal campaigns in Gaza or the West Bank. The government needs to ensure that they do not constitute trade dealings with Israel, which may entrench its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Protests as Malcolm Turnbull backed Bisalloy Steel sells armour to the IDF
‘Vehicle parts‘
In Senate Estimates on 25 October 2023, Defence officials were asked if they could give a guarantee that no material approved for export to Israel was being used in Gaza. Defence officials responded:
“On the 322 export permits for military and dual use items that you’ve referred to during that period, Australia did not, the export process did not go to lethal equipment…
Australia’s permit process, as I’ve explained, would relate to military and dual use items, those permits would involve, I’m not going to go into the details themselves, they would involve things like radio, body armour, software, vehicle parts, sporting equipment, anything on the DGSL list.”
The best and the brightest from the Defence portfolio assume familiar postures as they attempt to respond to questions from Greens Senator David Shoebridge in Senate Estimates, the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee meeting, on 13 March 2025. Democratic accountability at its finest. (Photo: Australian Parliamentary Services, YouTube.)
The 90-page list provide by Home Affairs includes a significant quantity of vehicle parts, primarily for off-road vehicles, including for ‘jeeps’, the 4WD military vehicle.
A source familiar with the situation in Gaza, spoken to by Declassified Australia, explained, “There is nothing more ubiquitous than the Jeep as sustaining the occupation of the West Bank. ‘Jeep el jesh’ – once someone says that you’ve got to scramble. Jesh is ‘army’ in Arabic. The jeep is omnipresent. It is there at checkpoints. Everywhere. It’s the occupation.”
Many remember the 2024 images of the wounded Palestinian man strapped to the front of such a vehicle during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Whether Australia’s export of vehicle parts has been used by the IDF or the Israeli Security Forces to further its illegal occupation remains publicly unknown. And as usual, the reason we have to query the export is because the Government won’t release more precise details of what is being exported, and to whom.
Nor are they telling us exactly what it is doing to ensure that our exports are not being directly or indirectly used to support the illegal occupation, as it is required to do under international law.
Realistically, the fact that the Australian government could readily supply information to address these genuine concerns provides cause for serious apprehension, and considerable doubt.
‘The F-35 Gen III Display Visor‘
Aircraft engines, radar equipment, parts, hydraulics, cylinders, airfield and rubber mounting tiles are all items that have been exported to Israel, along with the F-35 Gen 111 Display Visor.
For the uninitiated, the “F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System’s next generation interface provides pilots with intuitive access to vast quantities of flight, tactical, and sensor information for advanced situational awareness, precision and safety”.
All the information that pilots need to complete their missions, through all weather, day or night, is projected on the “mission-critical” helmet visor.
It is well known that Australian businesses are involved in the F-35 production and sustainment and that the Gen III Display Visors are developed and supplied under a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and Elbit Systems of America.
Defence ought to respond to Declassified Australia to explain why it has permitted the export of Gen III Display Visors from Australia to Israel. If Defence asserts that the listed visors were exported to Israel for return to Australia for the purpose of ADF capability – its common fallback explanation – then it should provide evidence that that’s the case, particularly because of Israel’s egregious use of F-35s in the devastating bombardment of Gaza.
‘Fibre Optic Cables‘
The export list shows Australia has exported fibre optic cables and connectors to Israel during the genocidal period.
In February 2025 a US-based Palestinian policy network, Al-Shabaka, released a policy brief ‘Gaza’s Telecommunications: Occupied and Destroyed’ which states:
“Additionally, the Israeli government controls Gaza’s electromagnetic sphere, heavily restricting Palestinian access to radio frequencies and internet connections. By routing all fibre-optic connections in Gaza through its territory, the Israeli regime ensures complete oversight and control over the flow of information. This control enables the deliberate manipulation of connectivity, preventing Palestinians from communicating effectively during crises and suppressing their ability to organize or resist occupation.”
It was also reported in 2023 that Israel planned to build a 254-kilometre fibre-optic cable between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, creating a continuous link between Europe and countries in the Gulf and Asia, which has the added advantage of allowing monitoring and control of information and data.
The Australian Government has not divulged the quantity, proposed location and identity of the end-user of its fibre optical cables.
‘Agricultural equipment‘
Agricultural export is one of the most profitable sectors in the Israeli economy, with most of the produce bound for European countries. Much of the agricultural produce exported from Israel is grown within Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, while making use of water and other natural resources from occupied Palestine.
That hasn’t stopped Australia from exporting fertilisers, irrigation equipment, herbicides, insecticides, tractor parts, seeds and other agricultural equipment to Israel since October 7, 2023.
The Australian Government has not revealed whether it has sought or been provided with any evidence that such exports are not contributing to Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
‘Smash Hopper‘
Israeli weapons company Smart Shooter established an Australian subsidiary called SMASH Australia Pty Ltd in 2023, located in Canberra.
Smart Shooter’s ‘Smash Hopper’ appears on the released government exports list as having been exported to Israel. It is a light-weight machine gun, described as a Remote Controlled Weapon Station. It is “engineered for one-shot, one-hit accuracy” allowing operators “to neutralise threats from a safe distance”.
As the Smash Hopper was exported to Israel and is obviously a lethal weapon, Defence officials ought to provide an explanation about why it was exported to Israel and whether or not the export was for ADF defence capability or provided for use by the IDF.
Unexplained military and security items
The list of export approvals sought goes to well over 4,000 items, often with numerous examples of each item.
An AI analysis of the list located a further five specifically military-related exports and five specifically security-related items. Some are marked as ‘Mock Ups’, some are possibly dual-use, at least one item was apparently exported to be repaired.
The document includes the following specifically military-related items:
- Iron Sting Mock Up
- ORCWS Turret 30mm, S/N: RMA001
- M339 Tank Ammunition Mock Up
- DAS Airborne System D1 Mock-Up
- Iron Fist Light Configuration Active Protection System Mock-Up
The document includes the following, specifically security-related items:
- Security Camera,s Including Thermal Imaging Cameras for Security Purposes
- Radiation Survey Meter, Detector with Cable
- Radiation Monitoring Probes for Repair and Return
- Traffic Control Equipment Parts
- Solar Airfield Lights
In conclusion
The 90-page export list is yet further evidence – if we needed any more – that Australia is ignoring the ICJ ruling that it abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel, which may entrench its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
It also provides evidence that, as required by the ICJ, the Australian government has not employed all means reasonably available to prevent genocide so far as possible, or used its capacity to influence effectively the actions of persons likely to commit, or already committing genocide.
In response to a plea for help made in March 2025 by Perth doctor Mohammed Mustafa, who is currently in Gaza, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia is not a “major player” in the Middle East.
Yet, less than 48 hours after the 7 October 2023 uprising, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave contrary evidence when he revealed on mainstream media that, “We’ve provided political support for Israel, which has been what the request has been at this time.”
So Australia was significant enough to Israel to warrant inclusion in marshalling pre-emptive political support for its accelerating, indiscriminate, and wholly disproportionate retaliation.
In any case, our obligations under international law are not determined by whether or not our country is a “major player”, nor can those obligations be deferred until there is a consensus position with our “likemindeds” or even between Hamas and Israel, before taking whatever meaningful and effective action is within our capacity.
Australia’s obligations under international law are not a choice.
As a State party to the various international agreements including the United Nations Charter, the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute, they are legal obligations that Australia has agreed to accept, duties we have assumed to act in certain ways and to refrain from acting in others.
Australia has so far consistently failed to meet both kinds of its obligations in relation to Israel and while ever it continues to do so is in flagrant breach of the laws of the international legal system it so hypocritically espouses.
The questions:
The five questions Declassified Australia has put to the Defence Department. If relevant answers are received after the deadline date, the full responses will be published here.
- In relation to the T2000 UAVL transponders exported from Australian to Israel between 7 October 2023 and 29 March 2025, did Defence seek, or was it provided with, evidence that no UAV transponders exported from Australia have been or were intended to be used by Israel in conventional weapons or in armed or unarmed UAVs that overfly Palestinian lands? What is the evidence?
- In relation to steel plates exported to Israel between 7 October 2023 and 29 March 2025, did Defence confirm that such products (a) have not been and would not be used in the genocidal campaigns in Gaza or the West Bank, and (b) do not constitute trade dealings with Israel which may entrench its unlawful presence in Occupied Palestinian Territories? What evidence grounded that confirmation in each case?
- In relation to the significant quantity of vehicle parts, primarily for off road vehicles, including Jeeps, exported to Israel between 7 October 2023 and 29 March 2025, did Defence exclude the possibility of those parts being used by the IDF or the Israeli Security Forces to further Israel’s breaches of international law by acts of aggression or occupation? On what evidence?
- In relation to the F35 Gen III Display Visors exported to Israel between 7 October 2023 and 29 March 2025, were the visors exported to Israel as their final destination or were they to be returned to Australia for the purpose of ADF capability? If the latter please confirm their return or provide evidence of their proposed return.
- In relation to the Smart Shooter Smash Hopper exported to Israel between 7 October 2023 and 29 March 2025, please explain why it was permitted to be exported to Israel. If the claim is that the Hopper(s) were to be returned to Australia for the purpose of ADF capability, please confirm the return or provide evidence of the proposed return.
This story was first published by Declassified Australia and is republished with permission.
Kellie Tranter is a lawyer, researcher and human rights activist.