United Airlines is the largest carrier at Newark Liberty International Airport, handling approximately 68% of all passenger traffic, but most of those civilian flyers have no idea that military equipment is being transported to Israel on those same planes.
Although military shipments were paused for about six months due to President Donald Trump’s unprovoked and illegal war against Iran,
United Airlines has resumed shipping military cargo to Israel aboard civilian passenger flights, according to records reviewed by The Intercept, following a six-month suspension during the joint US-Israeli assault on the Islamic Republic.
The airline is scheduled to transport five shipments of military hardware Wednesday evening on United Flight 90, a passenger route from Newark Liberty International Airport to Tel Aviv, Israel, according to shipping data.
United Airlines flies roughly 4,500 passengers each week from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) in Israel.
The shipments included components for F-35 fighter jets, tank parts, ammunition handling systems, helmet-mounted display systems, and weapon-release equipment, according to the report. Roughly 2,070 shipments were destined for Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, while others went to Lockheed Martin Israel, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and military airbases including Nevatim Airbase, home to Israel’s F-35 fleet.
Most shipments — 2,565 — traveled on United Flights 84 and 90 directly from Newark to Tel Aviv, according to the report. An additional 235 shipments arrived at Newark on domestic flights from Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington.
“This report shows that United, consistently and on a regular basis, ships military materiel that is used by the Israeli military for its operations in Gaza, in Lebanon, and against Iran,” said Griffin Mahon, co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America’s national labor committee. “These parts are shipped on civilian passenger flights, and they represent one way that American companies enable the Israeli government’s war crimes.”
The report found that at least 131 shipments contained F-35 components, including bomb release units capable of deploying 2,000-pound bombs. Another 28 shipments contained tank and armored vehicle components such as panoramic sights and gunner display units.
Using publicly accessible cargo documents, the researchers say they identified 2,761 military-related shipments carried by United aboard 160 passenger flights between July 24, 2025, and February 27, 2026.
United suspended the cargo shipments in February amid the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and resumed direct flights to Israel on Sept. 8. The shipments scheduled for Wednesday include cargo bound for Elbit Systems’ electro-optics division and its Land division, with at least one shipment labeled as foreign military sales.
A United spokesperson declined to comment. Representatives for Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems, and the Israeli Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, reports and investigations have concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces have committed acts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Gaza since October 2023.
The UN commission reported that Israel has carried out four of the five underlying acts of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention, including mass killings, serious bodily and mental harm, inflicting conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction, and preventing births.
A subsequent June 2026 report detailed the deliberate targeting of Palestinian children.
In proceedings brought by South Africa (South Africa v. Israel), the International Court of Justice issued a provisional ruling that it is plausible that Israel’s actions violate the Genocide Convention, though a final definitive ruling on the genocide case remains ongoing.
Israeli and international groups—including B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel—have stated that conditions and military conduct in Gaza amount to genocide.
“Israel continued to commit the crimes of genocide and apartheid,” according to the 2026 edition of Amnesty International’s annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights. “The population of Gaza was subjected to mass starvation, killings, and displacement alongside destruction of homes and other civilian infrastructure, which persisted despite ceasefire agreements.”
Researchers acknowledged they analyzed only a subset of the shipments due to data volume. The Intercept reviewed portions of the underlying data but has not independently corroborated every claim.
United is listed as an awardee under a Civilian Reserve Air Fleet contract with the Department of Defense for international charter airlift services, according to the report. The contract includes a “Patriot Team” that also lists Delta Air Lines.
The report’s authors called on local governments, labor unions, and passengers to pressure United to end the shipments, citing international humanitarian law obligations.
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