SAEDNEWS: Amid mounting civilian deaths in Gaza, a joint investigation reveals Morocco’s critical, yet covert, position in facilitating U.S. arms shipments to Israel through its ports—despite mass protests, dockworker resignations, and official silence.
According to Saed News, Morocco has emerged as a discreet but pivotal transit hub in the transfer of U.S. military equipment to Israel, raising urgent ethical questions and igniting domestic outrage over its role in what critics call “the machinery of genocide” in Gaza.
Investigative reporting by Declassified UK and The Ditch has exposed Morocco's involvement in the transfer of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel via Maersk shipping lines. In April, a cargo of jet parts left the Port of Houston and, after docking in Tangier aboard the Maersk Detroit, was transferred to another Maersk vessel—the Nexoe Maersk—and shipped to Haifa. These weapons were later delivered to Nevatim Air Base, a cornerstone of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza.
Public outrage swiftly followed. Protests erupted at Casablanca and Tanger Med ports, leading to the resignation of at least eight dock workers. Demonstrators held Palestinian, Moroccan, and Lebanese flags, denouncing the port’s complicity in war crimes. Yet despite these calls for accountability, the shipments continued—underscoring the Moroccan government’s silence on the matter.
The issue traces back to November 2023, when Spain blocked two Maersk vessels suspected of carrying arms to Israel. Those ships were subsequently redirected to Moroccan ports, solidifying the kingdom's place on the arms corridor.
According to Alejandro Pozo, a disarmament and peace researcher at Centre Delas, this maritime route has since become “regular traffic.” Pozo emphasized that government authorities are well capable of monitoring cargo content. “Of course, a government can know what is inside a shipment container—if they want to know, that is,” he said.
Maersk, under scrutiny for its role, released a statement in March asserting that it does not transport weapons to active conflict zones. Yet it admitted that F-35 parts were aboard the ships in question, claiming the components were intended for other participants in the international fighter jet programme—not Israel specifically.
Further complicating this stance, Maersk’s U.S.-flagged subsidiary, Maersk Line Limited, participates in the U.S. Maritime Security Programme (MSP), which obligates commercial shippers to aid in military logistics. This has led observers to accuse Maersk of “hiding behind wording,” using terms like “military-related cargo” or “components” to blur ethical responsibility.
Centre Delas’ research contradicts Maersk’s claims, listing vessels involved in MSP that dock in southern Spain and Morocco before continuing to Israel. “Spain has stopped some shipments due to public pressure,” Pozo noted, “but has imposed no sanctions.” Morocco, by contrast, has not halted any, despite repeated public outcry.
The geopolitical backdrop further complicates the narrative. Since Morocco normalized relations with Israel in December 2020 under the Abraham Accords—securing U.S. and Israeli recognition of its claim over Western Sahara—military and political ties between Rabat and Tel Aviv have deepened. In 2023, Morocco selected Israel’s Elbit Systems as a key weapons supplier, indicating rising defense interdependence.
This convergence has practical implications. Morocco’s geographic location near the Strait of Gibraltar allows U.S.-linked arms shipments a convenient, cost-effective alternative to longer, more hazardous routes via the Red Sea. “Efficiency in logistics and saving energy costs” likely drive this strategic preference, Pozo explained.
Morocco’s military cooperation with Israel has also extended to its controversial campaign in Western Sahara. Human rights advocates accuse Rabat of employing Israeli weapons in operations against Sahrawi civilians—a charge that intensifies domestic discontent.
Within Morocco, voices of resistance are growing louder, even amid threats of repression. A local Amnesty International activist, requesting anonymity, spoke to MEE about the moral anguish of witnessing her country’s complicity. “Every bomb dropped, every child buried under rubble, should shake us to our core,” she said. “Silence in the face of genocide is not neutrality. It’s betrayal.”
Her comments come amid increasing suppression of pro-Palestinian activism in Morocco. Since 2021, at least 20 activists have been arrested, with detentions accelerating since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. Despite government statements in support of Palestinians, critics say the state’s actions—and inaction—paint a different picture.
Opposition voices are also beginning to challenge the normalization policy. The Justice and Development Party (PJD) recently reiterated its condemnation of ties with Israel and urged a “re-alignment” with popular sentiment in Morocco, which overwhelmingly supports Palestine.
An anonymous analyst from the Carnegie Endowment highlighted the potential long-term impact of public discontent: “While protests haven’t led to immediate policy shifts, they could shape legitimacy debates and opposition mobilisation over time.”
As Morocco continues to enable arms transfers to Israel—despite global scrutiny, domestic resistance, and devastating consequences for Palestinian civilians—the silence from its leadership grows increasingly difficult to defend.
