Activists warn of Malta-flagged ship transferring military material to Israel

A Malta-flagged container ship VALOR is docked at Abu Qir Port in Egypt and intends to load over eight containers of military grade steel for delivery to Israel, according to activists.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ġustizzja tal-Palestina warned that the steel is being prepared for delivery to Israel for Elbit Systems Land in Ramat Hasharon to produce lethal weapons.

“This would mean that Malta, a signatory to the Genocide Convention, is actually contravening this pivotal human rights law by failing to take steps to prevent further indiscriminate atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The activists said that eight containers can carry over 200 tonnes of steel bars and rods, enough to produce 4,250 artillery shells. “Israel has fired such shells to kill, permanently maim, wound and terrorise thousands of children in Gaza over the past thirty months.”

They said that they received contradicting messages as to which Maltese authority is responsible to take action in such cases. “Each authority points to another! This raises very grave doubts about the seriousness of Malta’s due diligence regarding human rights violations.”

They said that the State’s silence on the matter “clearly aids Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its apartheid system, and its illegal occupations of Palestinian stolen land”.

“We call for the illegal transfer of military and dual use material to be prevented through an effective and consistent sanctioning system now and in the future.”

The statement was also endorsed by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Grupp Newtralita u Paċi, and Front Maltin Inqumu.