Italian Ports Halt Israel-Bound Steel Shipments from India
Italian authorities detain three shipments of suspected military-grade steel from India to Israel after activist tracking, with additional cargo rerouted.
Italian authorities inspect cargo shipments detained at the ports of Gioia Tauro and Cagliari amid allegations of military steel transfers from India to Israel. Photo: Reuters
May 20, 2026 Hour: 3:11 am
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Italian authorities detain three India-to-Israel shipments of suspected military-grade steel after activist tracking, with additional cargo rerouted.
Italian authorities are holding three shipments suspected of carrying military-grade steel from India to Israel after activist groups tracked and exposed the cargo, according to reporting by Middle East Eye on 18 May.
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The shipments, transported by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), are being detained at the ports of Gioia Tauro and Cagliari. Activists from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and No Harbour for Genocide (NHB) said their monitoring operations helped identify the consignments.
The groups estimate the detained cargo totals around 806 tonnes of steel, which they say could be used to produce up to 17,458 artillery shells for the Israeli army.
According to the activists, the shipments originated from R L Steels & Energy Limited in Aurangabad, India, and were destined for IMI Systems, now known as Elbit Systems Land, in Ramat Hasharon.
Three additional consignments were reportedly rerouted toward Sri Lanka after activist tracking began. The groups also alleged that shipping routes and destinations have been obscured in some cases to avoid scrutiny.
Ilham Yaseen, military embargo coordinator with BDS, said: “We are seeing now a flood of military supplies from India to Israel,” adding calls for pressure “to stop these supplies from reaching Israel and to hold the far-right Indian government and any complicit Indian company accountable for their complicity in Israel’s atrocity crimes.”
An NHB spokesperson said the steel was destined for “the Ramat Hasharon ammunition plant, which has no civilian output. It’s all military production. We know this 100 percent.”
The developments come amid broader coordinated actions by dockworkers across Europe and the Mediterranean opposing arms shipments through civilian ports. On 6 February, workers in more than 20 ports across Italy, Greece, the Basque Country, Morocco, and Türkiye participated in joint actions under the banner “Dockworkers Don’t Work for War.”
Italy’s Unione Sindacale di Base said the initiative aimed to “ensure that European and Mediterranean ports are places of peace, free from any involvement in war.” Francesco Staccioli of USB warned: “If we don’t take this step, all our other demands will be crushed under war.”
Since the escalation of the war in Gaza in October 2023, European civil society actions—including court rulings, national bans, dockworker interventions, and rail blockades—have sought to disrupt Israeli military supply chains. Despite this, several European states continue facilitating arms transfers linked to Israel’s military operations.
Germany approved $7.8 million in arms exports during the early weeks of the US-Israeli war on Iran, amid ongoing legal efforts alleging complicity in genocide through weapons transfers. Israeli media also reported that cargo planes transported ammunition via US military bases in Germany during preparations for possible renewed strikes on Iran.
The detention of the shipments in Italy adds to increasing scrutiny over global supply chains connected to Israel’s military operations and the role of transnational logistics in arms transfers.
Author: MK
Source: Agencies
