In the early hours of 15 May 2024, the cargo ship Borkum anchored off Spain’s southeastern coast near Cartagena while dozens of activists gathered at the port, waving Palestinian flags and demanding that authorities inspect the vessel, suspecting it was carrying weapons bound for the Israeli occupation.
In parallel with this popular protest, nine members of the European Parliament sent a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, urging him to block the ship from docking, warning that allowing a military shipment to Israel would amount to implicit support for a state under international investigation for genocide against the Palestinian people.
Before the Spanish government issued any response, the Borkum made a sudden decision to cancel its stop in Cartagena and reroute to the port of Koper in Slovenia without offering any official explanation. European politicians viewed this move as indirect confirmation of suspicions surrounding the vessel, its cargo, its destination, and crucially, the origin of its weapons, making its point of departure an active partner in Israel’s acts of genocide.
The Gaza Massacre — and India’s Components
According to an investigative report by Al Jazeera English, the ship carried explosives loaded at the port of Chennai, southeastern India, en route to Israel’s Ashdod port, just 30 kilometres from Gaza.
Shipping data showed that Borkum departed from Chennai on 2 April 2024, navigating around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea, where the Houthis have targeted Israel-linked vessels in response to the genocide in Gaza.
Documents obtained by the Palestine Solidarity Network revealed that the ship’s cargo included more than 20 tonnes of rocket engines, 12.5 tonnes of explosive warhead parts, 1,500 kilograms of high explosives, and over 700 kilograms of artillery charges.
These documents also highlighted a secret clause obligating the parties involved not to mention the “Israel Military Industries” (IMI), formerly state-owned and one of Israel’s top producers of munitions and rocket engines, which was acquired by Elbit Systems in 2018 to become part of Israel’s largest private defense contractor. This clause deepened suspicions about the shipment’s true source and end use, especially given Elbit’s known investments in joint production facilities inside India — notably in Hyderabad — where Elbit partners with local entities to manufacture military components likely bound for use in Gaza.
In addition, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that India has supplied Israel with artillery shells, light weapons, and drones since the start of the war.
The Borkum incident is only one piece of a larger picture reflecting the sharp increase in military imports from India to Israel during the first months of the Gaza war. A similar case involved the ship Marianne Danica on 21 May 2024 off Cartagena’s coast. It departed from Chennai on 8 April with 27 tonnes of explosives bound for Haifa, prompting Spanish authorities to deny it entry.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the decision was based on the nature of the military cargo and its link to the ongoing war.
Days after the Marianne Danica incident, clearer evidence emerged of Indian components being used in operations in Gaza. Media outlets published images of remains of an Israeli missile that struck a UN shelter in the Nuseirat camp, one piece of which bore the label “Made in India.”
“Barak 8”: An Israeli Missile Fueled by Indian Explosives
These facts reveal a systematic pattern of Indian support for Israel’s war on Gaza. Despite New Delhi’s official rhetoric of neutrality and calls for de-escalation, its defense companies have continued to supply a party openly engaged in war crimes and genocide, with battlefield-ready military components.
At the forefront is Premier Explosives Ltd., a company specialising in high-energy explosives and rocket fuel, as well as smoke bombs and warheads. It has secured direct contracts with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to supply RDX (hexogen) and HMX (octogen) — powerful high-explosive materials used in bombs, mines, and bunker-busting munitions.
Reports indicate that hexogen was used to rig “pager” communication devices targeting Hezbollah members last September, using about 20 grams of the material, chosen for its stability and ease of blending with plasticisers while maintaining its explosive properties.
These explosives are also essential for advanced missile systems. The “Barak 8” missile, developed jointly by Israeli and Indian entities, relies on solid-propellant rocket engines powered by such materials to deliver high thrust, enabling greater speed, manoeuvrability, and a broader response range against aerial threats from fighter jets to guided missiles.
These materials are vital for the warhead’s destructive capacity, making Indian exports of such components a direct contribution to a weapons system actively used in Gaza. Evidence already shows the “Barak 8” being deployed in the assault on Gaza, integrated into Israel’s Sa’ar 6-class corvettes.
Premier Explosives’ relationship with IAI extends back to 2021 ,when it became the first private Indian entity to export rocket engines to Israel. Company filings for Q1 2024 revealed “record quarterly revenue” driven by exports to Israel during the Gaza war’s peak — a fact confirmed by the CEO in a March investor call. Field reports have since uncovered remnants of Israeli missiles in Gaza bearing Premier’s marks, including engines and warhead parts.
Waging War on Adani’s Wing
Explosives and missiles are not the only weapons with Indian fingerprints. More sophisticated systems have emerged through India-Israel defense collaboration — notably the Hermes 900 drone, shipped to Israel from facilities owned by Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, one of Asia’s wealthiest men.
The Wire reported that Adani Elbit Advanced Systems, based in Hyderabad, exported enough components to assemble more than 20 Hermes 900 drones — a mainstay of Israel’s air force for reconnaissance and precision strikes. Media outlets have documented these drones operating extensively over Gaza since the war began.
Israel’s use of Hermes drones against Palestinians dates back well before the current war. Gaza-based Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights estimates that over a third of Palestinians killed in the 2014 assault died by Israeli drones — including the Hermes — raising questions about Adani’s legal and moral responsibility and highlighting New Delhi’s role in enabling mass killings through its partnerships with Israeli arms firms.
The Adani Group’s cooperation with Israel’s defense industry dates back to 2018 when it signed a $15 million agreement with Elbit Systems to build a joint facility — Adani-Elbit — the first of its kind outside Israel, focused on manufacturing Hermes 900 drones.
This factory became a key hub for producing carbon structures and sub-systems for these drones under direct Israeli technical supervision, making Adani Israel’s sole foreign partner in producing one of its most-used combat UAVs.
Adani’s investments do not stop at drones. The conglomerate also collaborates with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) through PLR Systems, which manufactures assault rifles, sniper rifles, and machine guns used by both Israeli forces and Indian security services.
In Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel, Azad Essa argues that Adani’s projects now form the backbone of a deep military-industrial partnership where capital and political power intertwine. This alignment is driven by the shared vision of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to build “ethnic democracies” privileging Hindus in India and Jews in occupied Palestine.
India’s Energy Feeds Israel’s War Machine
Beyond Adani, other Indian companies play crucial roles in sustaining Israel’s arsenal. Munitions India Limited (MIL), under India’s Ministry of Defence, exported at least two shipments to Israel in January and April 2024. While export licenses do not specify exact items, they cover “dual-use” products, which often include explosives and devices that can serve both civilian and military ends, leaving questions about how these materials fuel Gaza’s destruction.
Similar licenses covered shipments by Premier Explosives, suggesting a bureaucratic loophole to shield India’s military from direct accountability for Israel’s genocide. Tata provides advanced electronics for drones and radars; Wave Mechanics Ltd supplies precision metal parts for Elbit Systems’ weapons and aircraft; Bharat Electronics Limited, fully state-owned, manufactures sensors and laser systems vital to Israel’s surveillance and targeting capabilities.
In total, at least 19 Indian companies supply Israel’s military industry with aircraft parts, electronics, and explosives, deepening Gaza’s devastation, as documented by Workers in Palestine.
A Convergence of Interests
This evolving reality shows that India’s emergence as a key arms supplier for Israel’s war on Gaza is no accident, but the result of a deep strategic alliance grounded in economic and military interests.
For Israel, India provides low-cost skilled labour and an industrial base that keeps its supply lines open, critical for sustaining munitions during war. For India, the partnership aligns with its “Make in India” policy, boosting domestic manufacturing and securing advanced technologies that would be difficult to acquire independently.
Yet India’s role still raises questions: Has it truly moved beyond being a mere assembler for Israeli technologies? The Hermes 900, for example, still relies on Israeli-made engines and thermal cameras, leaving India vulnerable should the political relationship ever fracture.
In the end, this alignment of security interests, joint technological ventures, and shared ideological outlooks — with both governments pursuing visions of ethno-national “democracies” — has led India to abandon its historical solidarity with Palestinians, drawing it closer to Israel’s war machinery.
While India insists it is a “neutral seller” with no say in how its goods are used, each missile launched with Indian-made components and each drone that kills civilians with parts manufactured in Hyderabad deepen its ethical responsibility, highlighting how Hindutva and Zionism increasingly intertwine as ideological forces with real consequences for Gaza.
