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The Intercept
10-05-2025
- Business
- The Intercept
Explosive Materials Bound for Israel Are Flying Out of JFK Airport
Americans know that the U.S. government and defense industry exports huge amounts of military goods to Israel — but they may not be aware that in some cases these shipments travel beside them. On Saturday afternoon, a cargo airplane carrying 14 tons of explosive materials bound for an Israeli weapons manufacturing company is expected to fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Saturday afternoon, according to air cargo documents reviewed by The Intercept. The explosive material, grade A nitrocellulose, is a widely used industrial material that plays a key role in making ammunition — from sniper bullets to rockets. According to the air cargo documents obtained by journalists at Irish news site The Ditch and researchers with the Palestinian Youth Movement, 51 pallets of nitrocellulose are expected to be delivered to the Israeli weapons manufacturing company IMI Systems, headquartered outside of Tel Aviv in the city of Ramat Hasharon. The main client of IMI Systems, previously known as Israeli Military Industries, is the Israel Defense Forces. Saturday's cargo flight is the largest single shipment of explosives to pass through NYC's busiest airport. The cargo flight by Challenge Airlines Israel is scheduled to depart from JFK at 2 p.m. on Saturday and land in Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday, according to flight information. The manufacturer of the materials is not known, but the cargo's sender is listed as deriving from a Los Angeles ZIP code. While other weapons-related shipments have been sent from JFK to Israel, Saturday's cargo flight is the first confirmed shipment of nitrocellulose and the largest single shipment of explosives to pass through New York City's busiest airport, said journalist and lawyer Roman Shortall, co-founder of The Ditch. Previously, The Ditch has reported on other military equipment flown out of the JFK airport, including ammunition propellants, detonating fuses, tear gas, F-35 combat jet parts, and firearms. Explosive materials, however, typically have been shipped in smaller amounts in separate flights, Shortall said. The concentrated amounts of nitrocellulose on Saturday are notable and prompt safety concerns for both civilians and workers at the New York airport, the researchers said. 'Over almost two years of genocide in Gaza, JFK airport has served as the coordination point for the shipment of ammunition primer, small arms cartridges, detonators, and aircraft parts to sustain the Israeli military,' said Aisha Nizar, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, a Palestinian solidarity group that has chapters across the U.S. and Europe. 'These arms are threats to our communities here in New York, and show yet again, the complete coordination between the Zionist project and the U.S. ruling class, who are currently waging a war of extermination against the Palestinian people.' IMI Systems' parent company Elbit Systems and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates JFK, did not immediately respond to The Intercept's requests for comment. Read our complete coverage The Israeli military regularly receives billions of dollars' worth in weapons from the U.S., whether transferred from U.S. military stockpiles or bought directly from U.S. defense companies. During the first year of Israel's war on Gaza, the U.S. military sent $17.9 billion in aid to Israel. The majority of Israeli military aid from the U.S. comes through grants for Israel to spend on buying new military weapons and materials directly from U.S. companies, which helps fuel the country's weapons industry. Researchers with the Palestine Youth Movement have previously uncovered sea shipments of ammunition and other material to Israel from the U.S. Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, or MOTSU, in North Carolina, including a Department of Defense shipment last year that violated Spain's arms embargo on Israel. A separate Israel-bound shipment of military goods by Danish shipping giant Maersk, which typically ships from Port Elizabeth in New Jersey, also violated the Spanish embargo. A media investigation into Challenge Air by Belgian news outlet RTBF has also shown the airline has transported weapons from the JFK airport to Brussels, then to Tel Aviv. Researchers with the Palestinian Youth Movement expressed safety concerns for workers and civilians posed by the highly flammable explosive materials. A U.S. Army report cited by the group described nitrocellulose as explosively equivalent to TNT. The group also pointed to China's Tianjin Port explosion in 2015 caused by nitrocellulose stockpiles, which had spontaneously combusted, killing 173 people and injuring more than 700 others. Both passenger flights and cargo flights at JFK share the same runways. Cargo flights can also be taxied to the runway while passing civilian planes and terminals. Since Hamas's attack on Israel in 2023, the Israeli military has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in its incursion on Gaza, which has escalated in recent months after Israel broke its ceasefire agreement in March. Israel's war cabinet recently announced plans for the Israeli military to indefinitely occupy all of Gaza and displace Palestinians from the territory. It comes amid an Israeli blockade on all humanitarian aid — food, water, fuel, and medical supplies — in violation of humanitarian law. The final destination for Saturday's shipment of nitrocellulose — the Elbit-owned IMI Systems — is known to manufacture a wide range of weapons, such as combat vehicles, rifles, missiles, rocket launchers, and cluster munitions. Nitrocellulose is also used in industrial and medical materials, including paint or aluminum foil, and in medical settings to create topical ointments. Other companies ship weapons and military materials through JFK, including Lockheed Martin, according to The Ditch. While Challenge Air has been the main airline to fly such military goods out of JFK, U.S. transportation giant FedEx has also transported military goods through the New York airport. Elbit, Israel's largest arms manufacturer, operates across the globe, including in the U.S, the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland and Brazil. Palestinian solidarity activists in the U.S. have protested at Elbit facilities in Virginia and South Carolina, as well as a factory in Merrimack, New Hampshire, where four women attempted to halt production.
News24
25-04-2025
- Business
- News24
Israel condemns Spain as 'on the wrong side of history' after weapons contract cancelled over Gaza
Spain cancelled a weapons contract with Israeli company IMI Systems. Israel condemned the cancellation. Spain intends to boost defence spending to 2% of annual economic output. Spain on Thursday cancelled a contract to buy bullets from an Israeli company following pressure from the Socialist-led government's far-left coalition partner - a move swiftly condemned by Israel. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel's military operations in Gaza, halted weapons transactions with Israel after the outbreak of the war following Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The interior ministry sought to terminate the €6.8-million ($7.8 million) contract with Israeli firm IMI Systems, which was to supply bullets to the Spanish Civil Guard police force. But on Wednesday the ministry said it had abandoned its attempt to cancel the deal after state legal services advised against it "due to the advanced stage of the processing of the contract" and because it would have had to pay without receiving the bullets. The far-left Sumar party, the junior partner in Sanchez's ruling coalition, reacted angrily, calling the reversal "a blatant violation" of the government's pledge not to trade weapons with Israel. On Thursday government sources said the contract would be "unilaterally" terminated. "The investment board for dual-use material will deny this company permission to import this equipment to our country for reasons of general interest and, immediately afterward, the interior ministry will terminate the contract," the sources added. AFP Sumar's Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz said she had personally "negotiated" with the interior minister and the prime minister to pull the plug on the contract. Spain "cannot buy arms from a government that massacres the Palestinian people", she told reporters. Israel's military offensive has devastated Gaza and killed more than 50 000 people in the tiny coastal territory, according to the health ministry there. Israel said it "strongly condemns" the decision to cancel the contract and accused the Spanish government of "sacrificing security considerations for political purposes". Spain "continues to stand on the wrong side of history - against the Jewish state that is defending itself from terrorist attacks", Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP. The row over the contract came as Sumar was still reeling from Sanchez's announcement on Tuesday that Madrid would boost defence spending to 2% of annual economic output this year - the benchmark agreed by NATO allies. AFP The government had previously aimed to meet this target in 2029 but brought it forward under pressure from Washington. Sanchez's minority government has struggled to pass legislation since he secured a new term in 2023 by cobbling together an alliance of left-wing and regional separatist parties traditionally hostile to NATO and alignment with US foreign policy. Spain's main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) criticised the government's decision to cancel the contract. "When a state concludes a contract with another state, it must be respected," PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo told reporters. He asked: What is the price of cancelling this contract? Who is going to pay it? The Hamas attack in Israel resulted in the deaths of 1 218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages in their attack and 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's military response in Gaza has caused a humanitarian crisis and killed at least 51 355 people, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN considers the figures reliable. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Express Tribune
24-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Spain cancels $7.5m Israeli ammunition deal amid coalition pressure
Listen to article Spain's government on Thursday cancelled a $7.5 million arms deal with Israeli company IMI Systems, following pressure from far-left members within its fragile governing coalition. The deal, which involved the purchase of 15 million rounds of ammunition for Spain's Civil Guard, drew sharp criticism from Sumar—a bloc of left-wing parties—who warned it violated Spain's pledges on Gaza and threatened to exit the coalition. According to Al Jazeera, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, along with top ministers, had 'exhausted all routes for negotiation' before deciding to rescind the contract. The deal had sparked internal division after it was signed in February 2024, months after Spain vowed not to sell or purchase arms from Israel due to the ongoing war in Gaza. Despite an initial feasibility study in October 2024 advising against cancellation—citing potential compensation to the supplier—the Interior Ministry moved ahead with the contract until renewed pressure this week forced a reversal. Sumar leader and Deputy PM Yolanda Díaz called the deal 'a flagrant violation of the agreements,' adding, 'we are witnessing the live genocide of the Palestinian people.' Polls show the Spanish public remains divided: 48.5% oppose the ammunition deal, while 47% support it. Analysts warn the controversy may strain already tense ties within the coalition, particularly as the Sánchez government recently committed to raising defence spending to 2% of GDP to meet NATO targets—another move opposed by Sumar. While civic groups welcomed the cancellation, critics like political analyst Astrid Barrio López argued it undermines confidence in government contracts. The Israeli embassy in Madrid did not comment on the development.
Roya News
24-04-2025
- Business
- Roya News
Spain cancels weapons deal with 'Israeli' arms manufacturer
The Spanish government on Thursday unilaterally canceled a EUR 6.8 million weapons contract with an 'Israeli' company, following internal tensions within the country's left-wing ruling coalition, according to government sources. The sources said that 'the relevant ministries have decided to cancel the purchase contract for ammunition with Israeli company IMI Systems.' They added that both the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and its far-left coalition partner Sumar are 'strongly committed to the Palestinian cause.' 'For this reason, since October 7, 2023, Spain has neither purchased nor sold weapons to Israeli companies—and it will not do so in the future,' the sources said. Spain's Interior Ministry had signed the contract with IMI Systems for 9mm ammunition for various units of the Civil Guard. The government initially attempted to negotiate a termination with the company, but talks failed, prompting Spain to cancel the deal unilaterally. The Sánchez administration, which officially recognized the State of Palestine in May, has made support for the Palestinian cause a key part of its foreign policy. Relations between Madrid and 'Israeli' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government remain strained. The deal sparked criticism from Sumar, which called the contract 'a flagrant violation' of Spain's arms trade stance and demanded its immediate cancellation. Israel condemned the decision, accusing the Spanish government of "sacrificing security considerations for political purposes". "Israel strongly condemns the decision by the Spanish government to unilaterally breach a contract signed with the defense company IMI Systems, and its announcement that it will refrain from future defense deals with Israeli companies," the foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP.
Business Recorder
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Israel says ‘strongly condemns' Spain's scrapping of arms deal
JERUSALEM: Israel condemned on Thursday Spain's decision to unilaterally cancel a multimillion-dollar contract to buy bullets from an Israeli company, accusing the Spanish government of 'sacrificing security considerations for political purposes'. 'Israel strongly condemns the decision by the Spanish government to unilaterally breach a contract signed with the defense company IMI Systems, and its announcement that it will refrain from future defense deals with Israeli companies,' Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP. Palestinian president urges Hamas to hand over its arms Spain 'continues to stand on the wrong side of history – against the Jewish state that is defending itself from terrorist attacks', it added.
