Spain probes steelmaker bosses for alleged trading with Israeli arms firm

Spain's top criminal court said Friday it had opened an investigation for alleged complicity in crimes against humanity or genocide into executives at the steelmaker Sidenor for trading with an Israeli arms company.

Spain, one of the fiercest critics of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, said it had stopped exchanging weapons with the country after the conflict started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

The embargo formally became law this month as part of measures aiming to stop what Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls a "genocide" in the devastated Palestinian territory.

Sidenor's chairman Jose Antonio Jainaga and two other executives are being investigated for alleged smuggling and complicity in crimes against humanity or genocide for selling steel to Israel Military Industries, the Audiencia Nacional court said.

The Spanish firm sold the metal without requesting the government's permission or registering the transaction, and knew the material "was going to be used for the manufacturing of weapons", the court said in a statement.

It said the company itself was not being investigated because of whistleblower employees who contributed to the complaint and helped "prevent the continuation of the allegedly criminal activity".

The investigating judge has summoned the three suspects to testify on November 12 in the case, initiated after a complaint by a pro-Palestinian association.

Sidenor did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

The 2023 Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants also abducted around 250 hostages, with the remaining captives still alive returned during a fragile truce that began this month.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 68,000 people in Gaza, mainly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers credible.