Workers at Spanish Port of Barcelona refuse to load, unload ships carrying weapons to Israel

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Workers at the Spanish Port of Barcelona announced that they will refuse to load or unload ships carrying weapons to Israel in light of its attacks in Gaza.

“As a collective of workers, it is an obligation and a commitment for us to respect and vehemently defend the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the OEPB, the only trade union representing some 1,200 workers at the port, said in a statement.

“That is why we have decided within the assembly not to allow vessels containing war material to operate in our port with the sole purpose of protecting any civilian population,” the statement added, noting “no cause justifies the death of civilians.”

It called for an immediate cease-fire and peaceful resolution to ongoing conflicts across the globe, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The UN should abandon its position of complicity due to inaction or the abandonment of its functions, it added.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Tuesday that the death toll from Israeli’s intensified onslaught on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 has risen to 10,328.

Among those killed are 4,237 children and 2,719 women, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said at a press conference.

More than 25,956 others have been wounded as a result of attacks by Israeli forces on Gaza, he added.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.

Besides the large number of casualties and massive displacements, basic supplies are running low for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.