Italian campaigners and pro-Palestinian rights groups have raised concerns over continued weapons shipments to Israel through Italian ports amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Port workers’ unions, along with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) branch in Italy and other civil society groups, have intensified campaigns to monitor and challenge these shipments in recent months, The New Arab reported.
Rights groups have done this through protests, legal filings, and parliamentary pressure, arguing that allowing such transit could expose Italy to legal and ethical liabilities concerning the potential use of these materials in Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territories.
The No Harbour For Genocide (NHG) group, which seeks to stop maritime efforts sustaining Israel’s military assault in Gaza, revealed along with BDS Italy that four containers were loaded on 19 June at the port of Porto Marghera in Venice destined for an Israeli military industry facility in the city of Ramat HaSharon.
Tracking data revealed that containers suspected of carrying weaponry destined for Israel were loaded onto the MSC Nita vessel — which eventually arrived at Israeli ports — on 30 June.
Tracking data indicate that the vessel— which had returned to Venice on 24 July —departed the Port of Marghera on Tuesday, bound for the Port of Gioia Tauro in southern Italy, with arrival expected on Thursday this week. The shipment’s consignor is the US-based Union Technology Corporation (UTC), a company specialising in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCs), surface-mount chips, and electronic filters for military, aerospace, and industrial uses.
As some of these products are dual-use, they are subject to international and national export regulations; exporting certain types with sensitive specifications outside the European Union requires special licenses.
BDS Italy has raised the possibility that the MSC Nita vessel had bypassed oversight procedures overseen by the National Authority for War Material and Dual-Use Equipment (UAMA) —the Italian body responsible for regulating the transit and export of military materials.
The shipment’s final destination is reportedly IMI Systems (Israel Military Industries)—now a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, a major supplier of ground equipment and drones to the Israeli military —reinforcing suspicions about the military nature of the equipment being transported.
The same Israeli company had previously received shipments from the ports of Gioia Tauro and Cagliari last March; those containers were subsequently inspected by Italian customs and the Guardia di Finanza following reports filed by BDS Italy.
In a statement, BDS Italy said that it was “unbelievable that no statement or information has been issued by any local or national institution regarding the content and destination of the shipments inspected at Gioia Tauro —four and a half months after the initial interceptions”.