Patrick Wintour
The Guardian / July 29, 2024
Campaigners say overseas territory will be complicit in breach of international law if US vessel stops there
There is an overwhelming case for the UK to intervene to stop a US oil tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for use by Israel in Gaza from docking in Gibraltar, according to a letter from a cross-party group of MPs addressed to David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary.
Protests in Spain led by trade unionists and political activists have already resulted in the owners of the Overseas Santorini abandoning plans to dock in the Spanish port of Algeciras. According to Marine Traffic, the ship is now destined to reach Gibraltar at 3pm UK time on Tuesday.
The Gibraltar government, however, insisted it had received no formal request to dock.
The letter to Lammy and Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of Gibraltar, came from a cross-party group of MPs including Sarah Champion, the chair of the international development select committee in the last parliament, and the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Campaigners said the Overseas Santorini was carrying military-grade JP-8 fuel, delivered as part of a contract with the US government, that powers F-16 fighter jets. According to a UN investigation, it was probably an F-16, which are built using UK parts, that bombed British doctors from Medical Aid for Palestinians at a compound in Gaza in January.
The MPs, including members of the Scottish Nationalists, Labour and Green parties, have urged the government to “prohibit and prevent Gibraltar being used as a haven for the transport of military fuel used in Israel’s assault on Gaza”.
The letter said: “The jet fuel will be unloaded and used to fuel the Israeli air force’s F16 and F35 that drop bombs on the people of Gaza. The 300,000 barrels of fuel are sufficient for around 12,000 F-16 refueling.”
It added: “The case to prevent Gibraltar’s facilities from being complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law are overwhelming. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault.””
The call to block the shipment came from a large coalition of groups, including the Progressive International, Global Energy Embargo for Palestine, Disrupt Power, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, Valero Out of Corpus, the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, BDS and Gibraltar for Palestine. They are operating under the banner “No Harbour for Genocide”.
The campaign’s pressure led to the port-worker unions UGT and CCOO backing it, and Spanish politicians – including the current and former Podemos leaders Ione Belarra and Pablo Iglesias, as well as Sumar, the junior coalition party in government – denouncing the planned docking of the Overseas Santorini.
In a statement on Sunday, the Gibraltar government said the US-flagged tanker has not requested to dock in Gibraltar or use any of its port services.
In May, the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said Spain will not authorise ships carrying weapons for Israel to call at its ports after the country refused to let a ship call at the south-eastern port of Cartagena.
Elia El-Khazen, the coordinator of Global Energy Embargo for Palestine, which is based in Germany, had called on the Madrid government to act against the Overseas Santorini, pointing out that the international court of justice had issued binding orders on Israel to relieve the humanitarian pressure on Gaza. The UN human rights council also passed a resolution in April expressing concern about the use of jet fuel in Gaza.
The campaigners said the oil is being shipped by the Valero company from Corpus Christi, Texas and is aimed to reach the port of Ashkelon in Israel. For years, these regular shipments have stopped at Algeciras and Limassol, Cyprus.
On Monday, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, announced he was making a free trade agreement with Israel one of his priorities in securing trade deals. But ministers are expected shortly to announce limited restrictions on arms export licences to Israel if the arms are deemed capable of being used in Israeli offensives in Gaza.
Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for The Guardian
