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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Italian dockworkers block passage of Saudi ship carrying arms for Israel </h1><p class="gmail-">Union leaders in Italy have warned that handling weapons shipments for Israel constitutes complicity in war crimes </p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">AUG 10, 2025 -<font size="1"> </font></span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/italian-dockworkers-block-passage-of-saudi-ship-carrying-arms-for-israel">https://thecradle.co/articles/italian-dockworkers-block-passage-of-saudi-ship-carrying-arms-for-israel</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/8a86e31e-75da-11f0-a2df-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="437" height="246" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo credit: AFP via Getty Images)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span class="gmail-article-body"><p>Workers in the Italian port of Genoa have <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/08/09/ryao-a09.html">blocked</a> passage of a Saudi vessel carrying weapons shipments for Israel. </p><p>The
Bahri Yanbu, operated by Saudi shipping firm Bahri, which arrived from
Baltimore, Maryland, was slated to take on military hardware made by
Italian arms giant Leonardo \u2014 including an Oto Melara cannon destined
for Abu Dhabi \u2013 along with tanks or other heavy weaponry reportedly
already positioned in the terminal yard.<br>Routine inspections revealed
that the ship was carrying weapons and ammunition for Israel after 40
dock workers boarded the vessel. </p><p>\u201cWe don\u2019t work for war,\u201d said
Jose Nivoi from the Autonomous Collective of Port Workers and the Union
Sindicale di Base, adding that the Port Authority has promised talks for
establishing \u201cpermanent observatory on arms trafficking.\u201d</p><p>Italian
union leaders have warned that handling such shipments constitutes
complicity in the war crimes carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip,
vowing a ban on unloading weapons for warzones \u201cby any means.\u201d</p><p>Genoa port workers had previously intercepted a similar arms shipment on the same ship in 2019. </p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>The
incident is the latest of several similar shipment interceptions,
signaling growing international opposition to Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza.</p><p>On 4 June, French dockworkers<a href="https://labornotes.org/2025/06/european-dockworkers-refuse-load-weapons-aimed-palestine"> refused</a>
to load arms components destined for Israel at France\u2019s Fos-Marseille.
The ship was forced to leave the port without the cargo. </p><p>The
latest interception comes as Israel is planning a full occupation of
Gaza City. The brutal Israeli siege on the strip continues to worsen a
severe famine, which has seen dozens, including children, die from
starvation in recent weeks. </p><p>Publicly, Saudi Arabia demands
Palestinian statehood in exchange for officially normalizing ties with
Israel, despite under-the-table dealings between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. In
2023, former Saudi intelligence colonel Rabih al-Anzi <a href="https://t.me/roaamedianews/85679">admitted</a>
back in 2023 that Saudi Arabia was helping arm Israel for its war
against Hamas due to a shortage of western ammunition resulting from the
Ukraine war. </p><p>In June this year, Anzi also said that Riyadh
supported Israel's war on Iran by opening its airspace to Israeli jets
and helping to intercept Iranian drones.</p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>Other
Arab states, including the UAE, which normalized ties with Israel in
2020, have contributed to the Israeli military industry and the Israeli
economy throughout the genocidal war on Gaza. </p><p>Since Israel's war on Gaza following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the UAE has facilitated a<a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/21707"> land route </a>between Israel and Arab states to help the Israeli government bypass the Yemeni blockade. </p><p>As
part of these efforts, goods arrive in the UAE by ship and are trucked
into Saudi Arabia and Jordan before being delivered to Israel via the
King Hussein Bridge.</p><p>UAE-Israeli <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/israel-uae-defense-cooperation-grows-under-abraham-accords">defense ties</a>
have rapidly expanded since the 2020 Abraham Accords. A most recent
deal, which has yet to be finalized, will see the Emirati Edge Group
procure the Hermes 900 drone from Israeli military company Elbit
Systems. </p></span></div></div></div></div>
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