Congo’s Ground, Gaza’s Sky: Extraction, Zionism, and the Profits of War
In plain terms: This is a system, not an accident.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo isn’t “a crisis” in the abstract — it’s a people and a land organised for other people’s gain. In North and South Kivu, UN investigators have documented grave violations by multiple parties, including M23; displacement keeps climbing while funding lags.
So how do minerals become weapons?
Congo’s ores don’t explode on their own. They are engineered into the electronics, metal cores, casings, superalloys, and power systems that make modern weapons work.
Tantalum (from coltan): indispensable for high-reliability capacitors used in guidance, communications, and other military electronics.
Tungsten (from wolframite): used in long-rod kinetic-energy penetrators and other munitions because of its density and strength.
Tin & gold (3TG): ubiquitous in solder and high-reliability connectors; the U.S. conflict-minerals rule exists precisely because 3TG from the DRC region can finance armed groups.
Cobalt: foundational for jet/gas-turbine superalloys and many batteries. In 2023 the DRC produced ~74% of the world’s mined cobalt; China dominates refining — a textbook case of North–South extraction meeting East–West industry.
When due diligence is shallow or paper-thin, conflict-linked minerals slip through regional hubs and into finished systems sold by major arms exporters. That isn’t speculation, rather, it’s why regulators and the UN keep warning about contamination of supply chains from eastern DRC.
The ground truth in the east
In April 2024, M23 seized Rubaya (North Kivu) — one of the world’s most productive tantalum hubs — and set up a taxation system that UN officials said was yielding about $300,000 per month. In Ituri, armed actors profit from artisanal gold. This is what a war economy looks like: roads, markets, and villages are revenue corridors; civilians are the collateral.
Top Arms Exporters Linked to Congo’s Minerals
United States
The US is the world’s largest arms exporter in 2020–24 (≈43% of global transfers). Its defense sector (e.g., Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman) relies on critical materials like tantalum (capacitors) and tungsten (munitions/penetrators), which US oversight bodies explicitly flag as essential to weapon systems and national stockpiles.
France
France is #2 in 2020–24 (≈9.6%), propelled by big-ticket exports such as Rafale fighter jets and naval platforms. As with other aerospace producers, French primes integrate electronics and superalloys that rely on 3TG and cobalt refined through global supply chains.
Russia
Russia remains a top exporter (≈7.8%) but its foreign sales fell sharply in 2020–24 as war needs and sanctions redirected output inward. Its missiles, armor and aircraft depend on high-performance alloys and electronics — supply chains that have faced sanctions-driven constraints.
China
China is a top-five exporter (≈5.9%), supplying aircraft, air-defense and UAV systems while also dominating cobalt refining and significant 3T processing — a dual role as both arms supplier and critical-minerals processor feeding global defense manufacturing.
Germany
Germany (top-five exporter in 2020–24) sells armor, artillery, air-defense and naval systems. Its industry (e.g., Rheinmetall, Hensoldt) sits inside electronics and specialty-metal supply chains that use 3TG inputs and superalloys tied to cobalt availability.
United Kingdom
The UK’s BAE Systems leads Europe’s primes by revenue and anchors UK exports of aircraft, naval and land systems. Like peers, UK production depends on conflict-sensitive minerals used in guidance-grade electronics and propulsion alloys.
Italy
Italy (≈4.8%) exports aircraft, naval vessels and electronics via Leonardo and partners, embedding 3TG components and cobalt-bearing superalloys across platforms sold to Europe, MENA and Asia.
Spain
Spain is a top-10 exporter focused on naval platforms, aircraft components and command-and-control systems (e.g., Navantia, Indra). These rely on high-reliability electronics and specialty metals sourced via global 3TG/cobalt chains.
South Korea
South Korea is a fast-rising exporter (K2 tanks, K9 howitzers, FA-50 aircraft) with large deals to Europe and Asia. Its surge places Korean primes (Hanwha, KAI) inside the same critical-minerals web for electronics and armor/propulsion materials.
Israel
Israel’s exports hit record highs in 2023 and again in 2024, driven by demand for missiles, rockets and air-defense systems (Elbit, IAI, Rafael). These systems are mineral-intensive (electronics, guidance, composites, alloys) and draw on global 3TG/cobalt supply lines; European buyers have grown sharply since 2023–24.
Use in Gaza
Weapons powered by these minerals have been fielded in Gaza, one of the most densely populated territories on earth. UN OCHA and independent reporting record mass destruction, staggering civilian losses, and basic infrastructure wiped out. This isn’t theoretical: arms companies’ order books and export tallies climbed during the Gaza war.
“Zionism is running through Congo”: what we mean — and what we can prove
Two facts matter for Congo:
Israeli-linked mining money in the DRC. For years, Israeli businessman Dan Gertler sat at the centre of opaque DRC mining and oil deals. The United States sanctioned him and a web of affiliated companies under the Global Magnitsky Act for corruption tied to DRC resources (2017 onward); a 2021 attempt to soften those restrictions was quickly revoked. This is a direct, documented Israeli connection to extractive power in Congo.
Israel as a major arms exporter that relies on the same critical minerals. Israel’s defence firms — Elbit, IAI, Rafael — sit in the global top-100, with record revenues during the Gaza war and exports at historic highs in 2024–25. Like all high-tech arms industries, they depend on components and alloys built from 3TG and cobalt. That embeds Israeli military production in the same mineral economy that extracts from Congolese ground.
We can show a credible, documented chain: Congolese minerals → regional smuggling/trading hubs → global refining → electronics/alloys → weapons made by top exporters such as the genocidal colonial entity that is Israel → used in places like Gaza.
