By Shireen Akram-Boshar
This article was originally published by Truthout
“Maersk facilitated the transport of bullets Israel used to snipe Palestinian children in the head,” said one activist.
On June 8, the Palestinian Youth Movement’s Mask off Maersk Campaign published a report with Oxfam Denmark demonstrating that Maersk has continued to ship weapons to Israel amid its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, despite claiming otherwise.
The shipments include “parts for bullets, bombs, mortars and projectile bodies” which have been “central” to weapons used by Israel to slaughter civilians in Gaza and now Lebanon, the report states. In 2025, Danish shipping and logistics giant Maersk denied sending weapons to Israel, claiming to have “maintained a strict policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to Israel.” But the report reveals components of weapons shipped by Maersk to Elbit Systems facilities in Israel from October 2023 through 2025 — many of which came from suppliers in the U.S.
The shipments, the report says, demonstrate that Maersk is “a critical artery connecting U.S. military producers with Israeli military facilities.”
The research was compiled by analyzing shipping records and bills of lading – which document receipts of shipping cargo – and clearly showed relationships between Elbit Systems, Israel’s Ministry of Defense, and Maersk. The report states that Maersk “has facilitated a direct industrial pipeline from the United States to Israel.”
The report also notes that the bullet cores shipped by Maersk were the same class of bullets that Israeli forces used to shoot and kill 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza in January 2024.
Maersk responded to the report by once again denying the company’s shipments of weapons to Israel since 2023: “From the outset of the conflict, we have maintained a strict policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to Israel,” the company said.
However, this statement conveniently avoids mentioning that the company continues to ship components of weapons, if not intact and completed weapons.
“Their actual practice is to completely ignore the policies that they have on the books,” Nadya Tannous, international coordinator for the #MaskOffMaersk campaign, told Middle East Eye.“Our question to Maersk is: What’s a weapon? You don’t ship weapons, so what is a weapon?”
The campaign and report call for Maersk to immediately halt its shipments of weapons components to Israel. “We don’t want policy statements, we want material change from the company,” Tannous said.
In March 2025, when Maersk denied shipping arms to Israel, it simultaneously admitted that it shipped military-related cargo. “When we draw a line between what we accept to transport and what we don’t, it’s done after a very careful assessment and considering recommendations and regulations,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told shareholders at the time. “We realize that our line may not coincide with the wishes of everybody.”
“For years, Maersk has lied about the scale to which they are supplying Israel with the tools necessary to commit genocide in Gaza,” Tannous told Truthout. “Maersk facilitated the transport of bullets Israel used to snipe Palestinian children in the head, shipping everything but the explosives itself.”
“If Maersk halted services to Russia due to the Russia–Ukraine war, why are they continuing to evade responsibility for shipping military cargo to Israel? Maersk is not able to deceive us or minimize its central role in facilitating genocide any longer. We call on Maersk to immediately halt all military cargo shipments to Israel indefinitely, or face international consequences and accountability.”
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