• Italian dockworkers in Genoa stopped the Saudi-operated Bahri Yanbu ship, revealing weapons and heavy military cargo bound for Israel.
• They declared their refusal to support Israel’s genocide. This act joins a growing movement of European port workers resisting the flow of weapons supplying the genocide.
On 7th August, in the Italian port of Genoa, dockworkers have done what governments will not: stop the flow of weapons to Israel: a blood-soaked state built on theft and occupation.
The Bahri Yanbu, a Saudi-operated vessel fresh from Baltimore, was set to load a shipment from Italian arms giant Leonardo. Among the cargo: an Oto Melara cannon bound for Abu Dhabi, along with tanks and heavy weaponry already waiting in the terminal yard. But routine inspections took a dramatic turn when forty courageous dockworkers boarded the vessel and discovered it was also carrying weapons, ammunition, explosives, armored vehicles, and tanks, including shipments bound for Israel.
Around 40 workers boarded to inspect and document the cargo, declaring,
“We don’t work for war”
Jose Nivoi of the Autonomous Collective of Port Workers and the Union Sindicale di Base, confirmed that the Port Authority has promised talks to establish a “permanent observatory on arms trafficking.”
Italian union leaders have warned that handling such shipments would amount to complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
They have vowed to block “by any means the unloading of weapons destined for warzones.”
[Photo: Unione Sindacale di Base]
This is not the first stand Genoa’s port workers have taken. In 2019, they stopped an almost identical arms transfer on the very same ship. Now, the blockade joins a wave of similar actions across Europe.
Just weeks ago, on 4 June, French dockworkers at Fos-Marseille refused to load arms components for Israel, forcing the vessel to sail away empty.
Similarly, on October 20, 2024 dockworkers in Piraeus, Greece halted the loading of 21 tonnes of ammunition destined for Israel after Palestinian trade unions issued an urgent appeal for workers worldwide to refuse all roles in Israel’s arms supply chain.
The latest interception comes as Israel tightens its grip on Gaza City. The siege has triggered a famine so severe that dozens, including children, have starved to death in recent weeks.
Saudi Arabia’s Role in Supporting Israel Amid the Gaza Genocide
While Riyadh publicly ties recognition of Israel to the creation of a Palestinian state, its covert role tells another story.
Saudi capital has been quietly funnelled into Israel for a considerable time.
In 2020, it was revealed that Saudi Arabia hacked the phones of their citizens using Cellebrite, an Israeli intelligence company. Additionally, they hacked the phone of Jamal Khashoggi with Pegasus. Pegasus is an arm of the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
Furthermore, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wields unchecked authority over the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has poured billions of dollars into U.S. industries—most notably the defence sector. Quietly, the PIF has become a major shareholder in top American arms manufacturers, including a $714 million stake in Boeing, alongside significant investments in aerospace and tech firms that directly underpin U.S. military aid to Israel. These financial ties implicate Saudi Arabia in fuelling the weapons that continue to carry out barbaric assaults on Gaza.
As reported by The Cradle: In 2023, former Saudi intelligence colonel Rabih al-Anzi asserted that Saudi Arabia had quietly supplied arms to Israel since October 7th, stepping in to fill ammunition shortages caused by the Ukraine conflict. Furthermore, in June this year, it was revealed that Saudi Arabia aided Israel’s war on Iran by opening its airspace to Israeli jets and helping intercept Iranian drones. This information was also corroborated by Rabih Al-Anzi.
UAE’s Role in Supporting Israel Amid the Gaza Genocide
The UAE, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020, has likewise invested economic and logistical support to Tel Aviv throughout the Israeli massacre of Gazans. In the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Israel established a land route to bypass the Yemeni blockade: goods arrive in the Emirates by ship, are trucked across Saudi Arabia and Jordan, then delivered directly to Israel via the King Hussein Bridge.
Defense cooperation is also accelerating. A pending deal would see Emirati defence giant Edge Group acquire Hermes 900 drones from Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems; deepening military ties in the middle of a brutal, relentless, and merciless genocide.
Meanwhile, across Europe’s ports, workers are taking a stand where Muslim leaders have egregiously failed in their moral duty. This reveals that even amid profound betrayal and silence, the lifelines powering genocide can still be cut—if only for a moment.
