The Centre Delàs points out the co-responsibility of Spanish banks in the genocide against the Palestinian people

"With this investigation, we aim to name those who share responsibility for the worst massacre perpetrated in recent times, the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza," explains Jordi Calvo, coordinator of the Centre Delàs d'Estudis per la Pau, who points out that the Israeli army "could not carry out such acts without weapons, and a significant portion of the weapons it receives, including in the past year, are manufactured by companies financed by Spanish banks".

Shedding light on the connections between arms exports from various states to Israel over the past decade, the arms companies that produce them, and the banks that finance them is the goal of the latest report from the Centre Delàs, titled ‘Armed Banking and Its Co-responsibility in the Genocide in Gaza. The Financing of Companies That Manufacture Weapons Used in the Massacres Against the Palestinian Population,’ authored by the organization's researchers Max Carbonell, Edu Aragón, Gemma Amorós, Lucia Ibáñez, and Jordi Calvo.

The report, which continues the line of investigation initiated in 2008 to denounce the relationship between banks and arms companies, focuses on the business dealings of banking entities and arms companies profiting from the Israeli massacre in Gaza, which has already resulted in more than 40,000 deaths and foreshadows an open war in the region with catastrophic consequences. The organization refers to these financial institutions as ‘Armed Banking.’

The investigation highlights Banco Santander and BBVA—along with CaixaBank, to a lesser extent—as the main Spanish banks that have most heavily financed, both before and after October 7, the weapons manufacturers used by the Israeli army to carry out its extermination policy against the Palestinian population. The Centre Delàs emphasizes the responsibility of the banks that fund these companies and underscores the "necessary contribution" this entails "for the perpetuation of violence, human rights violations, and genocide in Gaza".

Financing of Around Fifteen Weapons Companies

The report documents several recent cases—most of them from the period between October 7 and the present day—and details which weapons and ammunition have been used in Gaza, the victims they have caused, and the companies that sold them to the state of Israel. 'With these weapons, Israel would be systematically committing crimes against humanity, potentially constituting genocide, as pointed out by experts and investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC),' explains Edu Aragón, one of the report's co-authors.

The Centre Delàs focuses on about fifteen arms companies that have manufactured weapons and ammunition and transferred them to the Israeli military. These include BAE Systems, Boeing, Day & Zimmerman, Elbit Systems, General Dynamics, Israel Aerospace Industries, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, Nammo, Navantia, Oshkosh Corp, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Rheinmetall, Rolls-Royce, and RTX Corp. All of these companies are profiting from the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Simultaneously, the organization has analyzed over 3,600 financial transactions that have occurred in recent years between these companies and international and Spanish financial institutions. Specifically, it identifies twelve Spanish and Catalan banks that have injected money into these arms companies.

The two Spanish banks that have invested the most—by far—in financing the manufacturers of weapons used in the genocide are Santander, with over $2.442 billion invested, and BBVA, with around $1.5 billion. CaixaBank follows at a distance, having financed these companies with about $110 million, along with other entities such as Ibercaja, Banco Caminos, Banca March, among others. According to the report, all these banks have financed a total of seven companies producing weapons used by the Israeli military: Boeing, Day & Zimmermann, General Dynamics, Oshkosh Corp, Leonardo, Rheinmetall, and MTU Friedrichshafen.

Guided Bombs and Fighter Jets Among the Weapons Most Financed by Spanish Banks

Among the specific cases revealed by the Centre Delàs investigation, noteworthy are the $1.3 billion, $1.2 billion, and $110 million that BBVA, Santander, and CaixaBank, respectively, allocated to Boeing and General Dynamics, manufacturers of GBU-type guided bombs that the Israeli military launched on October 9 and 31 in Jabalia, killing at least a hundred civilians and injuring dozens.
 

Similarly, BBVA, Santander, and CaixaBank have financed part of the production and maintenance of F-15 and F-35 fighter jets exported to Israel, with an investment exceeding $2.5 billion. These aircraft have been used in bombings in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen, including attacks with JDAM-guided missiles. One of the most recent attacks, in Yemen's port of Hodeida in July 2024, resulted in several deaths and at least eighty injuries.

Additionally, Rheinmetall, responsible for the manufacture and export of 155mm M109-52 Howitzer shells used in attacks on Gaza and Lebanon in October 2023, has been financed by several Spanish entities, including Banco Santander, BBVA, EDM Group, Ibercaja, Banco Caminos, Dux Inversors, Renda 4 bank, and GVC Gaesco Group. Furthermore, Rheinmetall produces Rh-120 tank ammunition, which has been used indiscriminately against the Palestinian population and critical civilian infrastructure, such as medical facilities, aid convoys, civilian shelters, and journalists in Gaza.

In summary, the Centre Delàs report highlights the co-responsibility of the Spanish banks that finance arms companies involved in carrying out massacres of civilians in Gaza and other Palestinian territories.

Given that the majority of Spanish society has expressed its opposition to the genocide against the Palestinian people, the organization urges these financial institutions to 'assume their share of responsibility and cancel all operations that may be linked to war crimes committed by the Israeli military,' states Max Carbonell, also a researcher at the Centre Delàs and co-author of the publication.