Spain probes steelmaker for breaching Israel sales ban

Spain's High Court is investigating privately-owned steelmaker Sidenor for allegedly selling steel to an Israeli firm for the purpose of making weapons, it said on Friday, in one of the first potential legal consequences of Spain's ban on such deals.

Judge Francisco de Jorge is leading the investigation targeting Sidenor's CEO Jose Antonio Jainaga Gomez and two other executives for alleged smuggling and complicity in crimes against humanity or genocide, according to the statement.

They were summoned to testify on Nov. 12.

The court said Sidenor sold steel to Israel Military Industries, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, in a deal allegedly conducted without government authorisation or proper registry.

The executives "went ahead with the deal with full knowledge that [the firm] was a manufacturer of both heavy and light weapons and that the material sold was to be used for the manufacture of weapons," the High Court said.

Sidenor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Elbit Systems declined to comment.

The investigation stems from a complaint filed in July by the association representing the Palestinian community in Catalonia.

Spain, which recognized a Palestinian state last year, has been a vocal critic of Israel's actions in Gaza, qualifying them as genocide on multiple occasions, an accusation the Israeli government rejects.

Seeking to pressure Israel to end its Gaza war, Spain banned ships and aircraft carrying weapons or jet fuel to Israel from calling at Spanish ports or entering its airspace in September. It also reinforced a prohibition barring Spanish firms from selling arms and materials used to make them to Israel.

It has maintained the restrictions even after a fragile cease-fire came into force in Gaza on Oct. 10 under a deal brokered by Washington.