New Delhi: Malaysian authorities have inspected and detained a shipping container at its second largest port after receiving information that it was carrying goods suspected to be intended for export to Israel, the Malaysia Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) said on Saturday, August 8.The container was detained on August 7 at Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor, according to the AKPS, in an operation “acting on intelligence it received”. The agency did not identify the container or disclose the nature of the goods.However, the No Harbour for Genocide campaign, which campaigns against maritime transfers of military and dual-use goods to Israel, said it had identified a container at Tanjung Pelepas that was scheduled to be shipped to an Elbit Systems facility in Yokneam, Israel. The campaign identified the container number as XHCU2519500. Its brief said the container had arrived from Manila on July 27 and was scheduled to leave Tanjung Pelepas on the Berlin Maersk on August 9.The campaign’s shipping records show that the container was gated into Manila on July 4, loaded on the Zhong Gu Chang Chun on July 15 and arrived at Tanjung Pelepas on July 27. It was discharged at the Malaysian port later that day. The tracking record showed it was due to be loaded on the Berlin Maersk at 11 am on August 9, with the vessel scheduled to leave at 5 pm.The campaign’s brief did not establish the contents of the container or identify the Filipino factory that sent it. It said, however, that the shipment’s stated destination was Elbit Land Systems’ facility in Yokneam, which it described as a manufacturer of military land systems and ammunition.The AKPS had said its initial investigation found that the shipment was suspected of violating Item 15 of the Second Schedule of the Customs (Prohibition of Exports) Order 2023, which prohibits the direct or indirect export of goods to Israel in line with Malaysian government policy.The border agency noted that the investigation was continuing with relevant authorities to establish the nature, specifications, intended use and classification of the goods. It will also determine whether the shipment contains strategic items subject to controls under Malaysia’s Strategic Trade Act 2010 and related legislation.“Malaysia will not compromise on any actions that violate the country’s policies, sanctions, and laws concerning Israel,” the agency said, adding that any attempt to export goods directly or indirectly to Israel in violation of Malaysian law and government policy would face “firm enforcement action”.Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wrote on X that the action demonstrated the government’s determination to prevent Malaysia from becoming a conduit for trade that could support Israel’s actions against Palestinians.“It is also in line with Malaysia’s commitments under The Hague Group, as well as the ban that has been in effect since December 2023, prohibiting Israeli ships and ships carrying cargo to Israel from using the country’s ports,” Anwar said in a statement. He added that Malaysia would continue to uphold “the principles of humanity, justice, and international law” in defending the rights of Palestinians.The Hague Group, a multilateral forum founded in January 2025 for coordinated state action in defence of international law, welcomed the detention. It said the action gave “practical effect” to obligations arising from the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion, which requires states not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.In a statement, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, executive secretary of The Hague Group, said the detention showed that international law needed to be enforced through concrete action.“By halting this cargo, Malaysia has upheld the obligations that bind every UN member state under international law,” she said, while calling on other states to join The Hague Group.The detention also comes amid growing scrutiny of the international supply chains connected to Elbit Systems. An Amnesty International report published on July 30 found that 2,596 consignments of weapons, ammunition, parts and components were shipped from India to Israel between October 7, 2023 and November 30, 2025.Amnesty’s investigation identified Israeli defence companies including Elbit Systems among the recipients of Indian military-related shipments. It said the consignments included 155-mm high-explosive artillery shells supplied to Elbit Systems, as well as explosive warheads for the company’s SkyStriker loitering munition. It had called on India to end defence-related business with Elbit and other Israeli firms named in the report.The international rights group had previously reported in December that the Holger G, a Portuguese-flagged vessel that had departed India, was carrying 440 tonnes of mortar-bomb components, projectiles and military-grade steel bound for Haifa. The organisation said it had verified that the cargo included metal alloys used in artillery projectiles and likely missile and rocket components, and that the cargo was to be delivered to Elbit Systems and its subsidiary IMI Systems.This story was updated with the press release from No Harbour for Genocide.