Morocco's ex-PM Benkirane slams Rabat's silence on 'docking' of Israeli warship

Morocco's former prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, has taken Rabat's silence on the alleged docking of an Israeli warship at a Moroccan port as confirmation of the "disturbing news."

"I wish Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita would deny this disturbing news. We cannot remain silent about everything," added Benkirane, head of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) on Sunday 21 July, during a gathering of his party.

In June, Israeli media reported that an Israeli Navy ship docked at the port of Tangier, North Morocco, for supplies while sailing from the United States to Israel. The ship's stop in Morocco was used to refuel and replenish food supplies for its crew of naval combat soldiers, confirmed Moroccan media outlet Le Desk.

Abdullah Bouanou, an MP for PJD, also submitted a written question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bourita about the alleged Israeli docking at Tangier port. A month on, the Moroccan official has yet addressed the opposition's question.

On 17 July, the National Secretariat of the Moroccan Front against Normalisation warned against allowing a new Israeli ship coming from the United States, loaded with fuel for Israeli aircraft, to dock at Moroccan ports. 

"We are monitoring the Overseas Santorini ship, which departed from the United States on 11 July, loaded with military fuel for [Israel]," wrote the Moroccan Front in a press release.

Rabat has yet to comment on the news.

Pro-Palestine activists in Morocco, Spain, and Gibraltar have released a shared statement, urging Mediterranean states to prevent the docking of ships carrying military fuel for Israel in any port in the Mediterranean Sea.

On 22 July, twenty pro-Palestine groups from the Mediterranean and beyond issued a statement asserting that the ongoing delivery of military fuel by "Valero Energy"—on behalf of the US government—to Israeli ports "is used to operate military aircraft such as the JP-8, F16, and F35, which are key to enforcing the blockade of Gaza."

"Countries have a legal responsibility to end the Israeli genocide," added the statement.

In May, Spanish authorities refused a ship carrying weapons for Israel permission to dock at one of the country's ports. Madrid said this would be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports.

Since last October, Morocco witnessed weekly anti-normalisation protests as anti-Israeli sentiments run high due to Tel Aviv's "plausible genocide" in Gaza.

Amid the unravelling Israeli war on Gaza, Rabat has officially denounced Israel's "flagrant violations of the provisions of international law" in its war and called for an immediate ceasefire.

However, a source from the Moroccan foreign ministry confirmed to Reuters in March that Rabat's normalisation with Israel continues, claiming its "benefits" in advocating for the Palestinian people and securing humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people, mostly civilians. 

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.