[News] Exposing JFK Airport’s hidden arms pipeline to Israel
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Exposing JFK Airport’s hidden arms pipeline to Israel
Shaniyat Turani-Chowdhury
September 30, 2025
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On July 16, 2025, a Boeing 747 operated by Challenge Airlines lifted off
from JFK Airport in New York. The cargo manifest listed a 347-kilogram
shipment from Lockheed Martin. Inside was a BRU-68 bomb release unit, a
mechanism that allows an F-35 fighter jet to drop 2,000-pound bombs.
The flight’s final stop was Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel, home to
the F-35I fleet bombing Gaza.
This was not an isolated transfer. Internal shipping records shared by
the Palestinian Youth Movement, and cross-referenced with public
flight-tracking data, reveal a steady flow of U.S.-made weapons
components moving from New York to Israel. Parts for fighter jets,
missile launchers, and ammunition have routinely left JFK on commercial
cargo flights while Israel’s air campaign destroys homes, schools, and
hospitals.
“What these records show is that the genocide in Gaza isn’t only
manufactured in Washington—it’s facilitated right here in New York.
JFK has become a gateway for the weapons that are killing our people.”
Kaleem Hawa, Palestinian Youth Movement
These shipments started before the current genocide, but have increased
greatly since October 7, 2023. They continue now despite mounting
evidence of war crimes and calls for an arms embargo. What they reveal
is that New York City is a crucial logistical hub in the supply chain
arming Israel’s assault.
Between July 2 and July 23, at least six arms shipments from JFK to
Israel were verified through waybills, flight data, and internal records
provided to /Mondoweiss/.
These findings add new depth to earlier reporting in /The Intercept/
<https://theintercept.com/2025/05/10/israel-weapons-explosives-jfk-airport/>
and /The Ditch/ <https://www.ontheditch.com/second-plane/>, showing how
JFK Airport has become a critical link in Israel’s military supply chain.
“What these records show is that the genocide in Gaza isn’t only
manufactured in Washington—it’s facilitated right here in New York,”
said Kaleem Hawa of the Palestinian Youth Movement. “JFK has become a
gateway for the weapons that are killing our people.”
These flights and their deadly cargo reveal the logistics networks
arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza that, for many in the U.S., is hiding
in plain sight.
*A civilian airport moving weapons to *genocide
Challenge Airlines flight ICL982
<https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/ICL982> departs JFK for Tel
Aviv on a near-routine schedule, often before sunrise. Cargo bays handle
electronics, produce, and mail. Mixed in are crates labeled “aircraft
components” or “hazardous materials,” terms that hide their military use.
Among the shipments traced in July were:
* Aircraft structural parts and missile launcher struts from Lockheed
Martin
* Fuel selector valves used in Elbit Systems aircraft
* Ammunition link containers for Israel Military Industries
* A BRU-68 ejector unit for the F-35
* Wingtip protective lenses for fighter jets
Each part is essential to the maintenance and repair of larger weapons
systems, and they are moved under the cover of civilian logistics.
“Most of us just scan the cargo tags—we’re not told what’s inside,” a
JFK cargo worker who asked to remain anonymous told /Mondoweiss/. “When
pallets show up wrapped and labeled ‘confidential’ or ‘secret,’ we know
not to ask questions. They bypass normal screening. We just load them.”
A second cargo handler recalled the difference on days when major
military shipments arrive. “The pallets are heavier, wrapped tight, and
marked with tags you don’t see on normal freight. Security is always
hovering nearby. We’re told nothing and only given the signal to load.”
*Why JFK? Geography, logistics, and loopholes*
JFK’s east coast location shortens routes to Europe and the Middle East.
Explosives depots along the coast allow rapid transport from factory to
plane.
Jack Cinamon of Shadow World Investigations
<https://shadowworldinvestigations.org/>, an international research
group that tracks the global arms trade and corruption, who studies
U.S.-Israel weapons transfers, points to two reasons JFK is such a
strategic node in the supply chain. The first is proximity to suppliers.
“Along the East Coast are multiple explosives and ammunition depots,” he
explained to /Mondoweiss/. “Being close to those locations makes JFK
much more advantageous.”
Cinamon also says the abundance of established cargo carriers, like
Challenge and FedEx, which operate full logistics hubs inside JFK,
provides cover for defense contractors.
The airport also stores hazardous and explosive materials, a capability
not available everywhere. This combination lets military cargo move in
the same space as ordinary freight, hidden by commercial operations.
JFK is not the only American airport feeding the supply lines into
Israel’s war machine. Dallas-Fort Worth, Memphis International, and
Oakland
<https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6892773634f0fe2a947a7f89/t/68af2b618b32ba25e7b347c1/1756326157524/report>
also serve as key transit points in this network.
*The endpoint: Nevatim Air Base *
The end of the line is Nevatim Air Base, carved into the Negev desert
southeast of Be’er Sheva. It’s here that Israel stations its fleet of
F-35I “Adir” jets, the U.S.-built fighters engineered for precision
bombing runs.
Among the cargo routed from New York City are BRU-68 ejector units, the
hardware that allows these jets to release heavy munitions. The Pentagon
itself places the BRU-68 under “Category VIII – Aircraft and Related
Articles” on the U.S. Munitions List, noting its use in deploying
precision weapons like the 2,000-pound GBU-31. These ejectors wear down
quickly and must be replaced often, making the shipments routine.
Alongside them are fuel valves, targeting consoles, and protective
lenses—the pieces that keep the F-35Is in the sky and combat-ready.
The path is seamless. Parts are made from a Lockheed Martin assembly
line, to a cargo bay at JFK, to the blast craters in Rafah. It is this
steady pipeline between New York and Nevatim that enables Israel to
sustain its air campaign over Gaza.
*Law, policy, and complicity *
Under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Israel
receives exemptions that speed licensing for some weapons components.
The Arms Export Control Act and the Leahy Law bar U.S. assistance to
military units committing human rights abuses, yet exports have
continued throughout the bombing of Gaza.
Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s head of military, security, and
policing work, told /Mondoweiss/ any state transferring arms to Israel
“risks complicity in genocide and war crimes” and violates its
obligation under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide. States
that knowingly continue transfers, he added, risk “aiding and assisting”
in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and genocide.
Wilcken noted that Israel’s preferential treatment under U.S. export
rules does not override international obligations. “International
humanitarian law prohibits all states—including the U.S.—from
transferring weapons to a party to an armed conflict where there is a
clear risk that doing so would contribute to the commission of war
crimes,” he said. Amnesty has long called for a total arms embargo,
citing extensive evidence of repeated violations in Gaza.
The risk extends to private industry. “Companies, their executives, and
employees risk being accomplices in crimes under international law if
the products and services they provide contribute substantively in the
commission of those crimes,” Wilcken explained. If they know their cargo
will likely be used unlawfully, “they could be found legally liable.”
Amnesty says the threshold for halting arms transfers has already been
met. Court challenges in Belgium and the Netherlands have successfully
blocked shipments to Israel, even as similar efforts in France and the
UK have failed.
In Belgium, regional governments suspended licenses for military goods
bound for Israel following legal pressure and public outcry, while in
Ireland, parliamentarians have raised questions over flights carrying
Israeli explosives through Shannon Airport. Reporting from The Ditch
<https://www.ontheditch.com/idf-explosives/> revealed that shipments
tied to Israel’s Ministry of Defense were routed through Europe,
sparking scrutiny of how states may be complicit in the transfer of arms
used in Gaza.
*Congressional oversight*
JFK Airport sits within the district of Congress member Gregory Meeks,
who, as a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, holds
one of the key positions in Congress responsible for reviewing and
overseeing arms sales. Under the Arms Export Control Act, his committee
can delay, question, or block transfers, and Meeks has made use of that
authority in the past. In 2021, he sought a temporary pause on a $735
million sale of precision-guided munitions to Israel to allow more time
to review, and in 2024, he pressed the State Department for further
assurances on a multibillion-dollar package of F-15s. These episodes
highlight that he is not only aware of the stakes but is willing, at
least in certain cases, to assert the committee’s oversight powers.
At the same time, Meeks has long been supported by pro-Israel advocacy
networks, including AIPAC, whose lobbying efforts consistently push for
expedited transfers and minimal restrictions on U.S. defense exports to
Israel. Meeks has received more than $400,000 from AIPAC as of the most
recent federal elections filings. Those ties place him at the center of
competing pressures: on one side, his formal role as a gatekeeper tasked
with scrutinizing foreign military sales, and on the other, the
political influence of a lobby that has made the uninterrupted flow of
weapons a top priority.
/Mondoweiss/ contacted Representative Meeks for a comment on the fact
that these shipments leave directly from his district through JFK. His
office did not respond.
*Protest and suppression *
On July 9, protesters gathered outside JFK to stop a shipment of Elbit
Systems parts. Authorities responded with a coordinated lock down. The
Port Authority, MTA, and NYPD restricted access to all terminals,
barring the press from the grounds. Protesters were pushed out of sight.
“We were blocked from every angle,” said a protester who asked to remain
anonymous. “Police set up barricades so far back you couldn’t see the
cargo area—not the planes, not the loading trucks, nothing. Anyone
without a boarding pass was turned away. From where we were pushed, it
was impossible to tell if anything was being moved. It felt deliberate.”
“They shut down the public’s right to witness it,” added another organizer.
The flight left on schedule.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Shaniyat Turani-Chowdhury*
Shaniyat Turani-Chowdhury is an investigative reporter from Queens, New
York. He received his master’s in International Relations and
Certification in Modern Journalism from New York University in 2024.
Follow him on Instagram at @__Shaniyat.
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