An investigation by the Progressive International, Palestinian Youth Movement and American Friends Service Committee organizations, to which Eldiario.es has had access, has discovered a transport route of armament and military material to Israel, through the Zaragoza airport, used “ From the beginning of genocide in Gaza. ” The final destination of the load is the Ben Gurion airport, in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital.
Through these journeys, more than 60,000 pieces of armament corresponding to Code 9305.91, category 9301- “Parties and artillery accessories, rifles, rocket launchers/grenades and machine guns”- and to Code 9305.10, equivalent to ““ parts and accessories of revolvers and guns ”. “The tests indicate that these flights continue to this day,” the researchers point out to this medium.
The trips detected, with information from Israeli customs combined with the flight tracking, belong to six airlines: Challenge Air Cargo, the Americans National Air Cargo and Atlas Air, the Icelandic Air Atlanta Icelandic, the Polish Skytaxi and the Uzbeca Myfreight.
Of three of them, Challenge Air Cargo, National Air Cargo and Atlas Air, there were already reports on their use to transport military charge to Israel, chartered by the United States. These types of flights have been documented from multiple US air bases, including the base of Sigonella, in Italy, and Al-Edeid, in Qatar.
The more than 60,000 pieces are of the categories ‘Parties of Artillery weapons, RuncoCohetes/Granadas, Rifles, machine guns’ and gun
Challenge Air Cargo is an Israeli-Belgian airline that has transported explosives from the US to Israel, for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. National Air Cargo has its base in Orlando, Florida, and provided in the past military logistics for the US Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan. Atlas Air has its base in White Plains, New York, and performs military charter flights worldwide.
Both Atlas Air and National Air Cargo recently obtained a contract of the United States transport command – which coordinates the logistics for the Department of Defense – to make international and long -range international charter flights.
Researchers have analyzed import data “published by the Fiscal Authority of Israel.” In them “it is not shown on behalf of who deliveries are made”, but they have been able to verify that Challenge Air Cargo, National Air Cargo and Atlas Air usually transport military load to Israel from other points, such as Belgium and the United States, making scale In Zaragoza.
In the case of cargoes with American material, it is common for the origin to be specified. However, in the documents of Israeli imports analyzed there is no first origin beyond Spain, according to the researchers contacted by eldiario.es.
Israeli import data do not point to those flights another origin beyond Spain
One of the trips, registered on November 11, 2024, of the Skytaxi company, has SP-MRG registration. “From now on the flights of this aircraft are blocked so that they are not visualized in Radarbox,” so it will be very difficult to track. Radarbox is a tool that provides real -time flight information and tracking.
Consulted by this means, Spanish government sources indicate that from that ministry no transit by Spanish airports of military material has been authorized to Tel Aviv and “neither have they authorized weapons sales operations to Israel, as The government has reiterated. ”
Sources from the Ministry of Commerce are pronounced in the same vein, they indicate that this type of authorizations corresponds to exterior and that this ministry has not given green light to any transit or sale of these characteristics.
However, in the documents analyzed by Progressive International and Palestinian Youth Movement there are records of at least thirteen shipments from Zaragoza to Tel Aviv in January, April, June, July, August and November 2024, with the type of military material mentioned, by An approximate value of 1,195,545 euros. There is also a record of similar flights in May last year, as well as in January and February 2025.
We have been able to document flights that continue to operate through these load airlines until February 2025
Progressive International, Palestinian Youth Movement y American Friends Service Committee
Upon knowing this report, the Amnesty International Human Rights Organization asks the Spanish Government to clarify whether these journeys are “transits of flights from other countries or if the flights left Zaragoza and if they included Spanish weapons,” he told Eldiario.es Alberto Estévez, spokesman for Amnesty International Spain on arms trade.
Spanish Foreign Minister José María Albares said last May that Spain would not allow transits by Spain of military material to Israel. As eldiario.es later, from that announcement from May until September 2024, at least twenty -five ships with US military material for Israel made transit – and transford – in the Spanish port of Algeciras.
Another investigation to which Eldiario.es had recently found that the US made use of the Spanish Rota base to bring weapons to Israel in November, despite the announcement of suspension of this type of scales by the Spanish government.
In the last quarter of 2024, new imports and armament acquisition contracts to Israeli companies were also detected. Given this, the Ministries of Defense and Interior announced that they were going to initiate a process to annul of the termination clauses.
13 Shipments of Spain-Israel weapons between January and November had a value of about 1,195,545 €
More transparency demands
The findings that have been known since November 2023 until today have led several groups to request the Spanish government more information about the arms trade with Israel. The Center Delàs de la Paz recalls that the Annual Weapons Export Report is still not published, although it was expected to come out in December.
In that sense, Amnesty International urgently requests that the Government sends to the Congress and appears before the Defense Commission to explain the Annual Weapons Export Report of 2023 and that of the first semester of 2024, that it must include data on the authorizations and exports made to Israel ”. Normally these reports are published in May and December and “the parliamentary appearance is in June, so there is no reason for this delay.”
Precisely this week it has been known that the National Court has refused to request information from several ministries about export licenses and current authorizations for transfer of defense material to Israel, as required by the Palestinian Community of Catalonia. From the campaign ‘end to arms trade with Israel’ denounce that this decision “helps the government hide information.”
The Court of Hague asks for trade, investments and transfers that can contribute to Israeli illegal occupation
Last July, the Center Delàs for Peace revealed that, at that time, Spain had allocated 1,027 million euros to acquire Israeli armament since October 7, 2023, awarding new contracts to Israel companies “that they profit from The massacres in Gaza ”. Previously that same research team revealed weapons exports to Israel made in weeks after the start of the Palestinian population killings, although Spain had announced its suspension.
The International Trade Agreement Weapons prohibits the transfer of weapons – including traffic – to countries that can use it against civil population for war crimes, humanity or genocide. Spanish Law 53/2007 establishes full commitment to said treaty.
In addition, the opinion of the International Court of Justice last July and the resolution of the UN Assembly approved in September – with 124 votes in favor, including that of Spain – request from the member countries the suspension of investments, Trade and transfers – which includes transit – that can contribute in some way to the illegal Israeli occupation or use as military material in the Palestinian territories.
At least 61,709 people have died in Gaza since the beginning of Israeli attacks in October 2023, according to updated figures that include the missing. In addition, the Israel Army continues to carry out military operations in the West Bank, where from January to today it has killed dozens of Palestinians – among them, thirteen children and two women, one of them eight months pregnant – and has caused the forced displacement of more of 40,000 people.
Source: www.eldiario.es
