Zoomed out, the war machine looks like a solid black box: unknowable and impregnable. We hear the horrible sounds of bombs, and the high-pitched screech of bullets. But the patterns of their production and distribution are out of sight — and all too often, therefore, out of mind.

Once we open the black box, however, we can see the war machine for what it is: a complex set of supply chains, coordinated by government agencies and populated by corporations, running across our seas and soaring across our skies.

It is easy, when we open that black box, to be dizzied by the labyrinth inside. But by revealing the internal architecture of the war machine, we can see that every link in these interconnected chains contains a potential point of interruption.

The system is not automatic. Humans must make discrete decisions — to load, to license, to fly, to sell, to insure. Here we find the war machine’s weakness.

But find these weak points, we need the collective strength to open that black box. And for that, we need knowledge, detailed, specific, granular knowledge: the kind of knowledge that has been intentionally obscured from public view.

The Progressive International, together with its many member organisations and partners, has dedicated itself to this task, studying, revealing and challenging different links in the chain. And the conclusions of these investigations have shocked the world.

This week, the Progressive International, the Palestinian Youth Movement and American Friends Services Committee released damning new research exposing the flow of military equipment from Spain to Israel. The news is explosive in Spain – and was reported on extensively by El Diario.

In May last year, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced that Spain would not allow military material to transit through Spain bound for Israel. Research by the PI and PYM has since revealed that between May and September 2024 at least twenty-five ships with US military material for Israel transited in the Spanish port of Algeciras.

The latest report moves from sea to the air. It provides evidence of over 60,000 pieces of weaponry transported via Spanish airports since October 2023, with Zaragoza Air Base serving as a critical hub for these operations. These include “parts and accessories for artillery, rifles, rocket/grenade launchers and machine guns” and “parts and accessories for revolvers and pistols.”

The flights were flown by six airlines: Challenge Air Cargo, the American National Air Cargo and Atlas Air, the Icelandic Air Atlanta Icelandic, the Polish SkyTaxi and the Uzbek MyFreighter.

Three of them, Challenge Air Cargo, National Air Cargo and Atlas Air, have already been reported to be used to transport military cargo to Israel, chartered by the United States. Such flights have been documented from multiple US air bases, including Sigonella in Italy and Al-Udeid in Qatar.

Following the report’s publication UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, issued a statement imploring the Spanish government ”to stop any military flights to Israel. Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people must not be enabled by Spanish land and labour. To do otherwise would not only be a contravention to Common Article 1 of the Geneva Convention, but also a violation of states legal obligations to stop Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, prevent and stop genocide, as determined by the International Court of Justice.”

Sumar, the junior party in the Spanish coalition government, filed an official complaint with Spanish National Court calling on it to investigate potential criminal liabilities exposed by the research.

The findings underscore a disturbing reality: the infrastructure of war remains shrouded in secrecy, sustained by a global network of criminal enterprises that operate with impunity. Despite the devastating human cost of military aggression, the mechanisms enabling these atrocities—commercial airlines, private contractors, and state-sanctioned logistics—are rarely scrutinised.

This investigation builds on a growing body of evidence exposing similar violations across Europe. In Belgium, airlines have faced public outrage for transporting military cargo to Israel, while in Ireland, scandals have erupted over the use of civilian airports to facilitate arms shipments. These cases reveal a pattern of complicity, where corporate and state actors exploit legal loopholes and opaque supply chains to fuel violence.

Yet, even as these revelations come to light, we still know so little about the full extent of this infrastructure. Who profits from these shipments? Who turns a blind eye to their consequences? Who will be held accountable for the destruction they enable? And most importantly, how can they be stopped?

This report is a further step in revealing the true, more fragile nature of the war machine, so we can tear is down together. Please read it here, share it widely in your networks, join our efforts to break open the black box once and for all and share El Diario’s reporting here.

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