Pro-Palestinian protestors block Tacoma port to halt suspected weapons shipment to Israel

TACOMA, Wash. — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors swarmed the Port of Tacoma Monday morning in an attempt to block what they believed to be an Israel-bound ship that would be loaded with weapons and military equipment.

The Port of Tacoma entrance was blocked by protestors shortly before 5:30 a.m., forcing drivers to turn around. Pedestrians and cyclists were seen demonstrating with signs and chants. Some signs read "No aid for Israel” and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

"The goal here is to delay or stop any kind of arms shipments from the United States to Israel,” Eliyahu Khaspi told KOMO News.

The Tacoma Police Department (TPD) posted on X just after 10 a.m. advising drivers that traffic along East 11th Street was blocked from Port of Tacoma Road to Milwaukee Way due to “a protest demonstration.” The department said officers were at the scene to help direct traffic in the area and to “ensure the continued safety of all community members.”

A TPD spokesperson told KOMO News none of the protesters had been arrested or detained as of 10:45 a.m.

Protestors believe the ship, the MV Cape Orlando, was at the Port of Oakland on Friday. Bay Area protestors, angered by the approval of U.S. aid to Israel, demonstrated there as well. ABC7 San Francisco reported the ship would head to Washington state en route to Israel.

"My grandmother is Palestinian and I'm from Jordan," demonstrator Nadia Thompson told KOMO News on Monday. "I want Palestine to have peace."

Protestors at the Port of Tacoma told KOMO News Monday morning they believed the ship would be loaded around 8 a.m.

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We have a lot of people coming down to support Palestinian liberation, and it's wonderful," protestor Bissan Barghouti said Monday before explaining the group's mission. "What we are doing is we are actually stopping a weapon shipment from a military reserve boat that came from Oakland, is docking in Tacoma, planning to take the cargo with it from Tacoma to Israel. So essentially, perpetuating genocide. So that is the boat we are blocking.

KOMO News reached out to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the Port of Tacoma and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) about Monday's protest.

The USCG told KOMO News the captain of the Port of Tacoma established a security zone to keep other vessels at least 500 yards away from the MV Cape Orlando.

"Due to operational security, DOD does not provide transit/movement details or information regarding the cargo embarked on vessels of this kind," the DOD said via email.

The Seaport Alliance told KOMO News Husky Terminal closed for the day but all other port operations continued. Tacoma police had numerous officers at the port throughout the day and told KOMO News they did not make any arrests.

KOMO News asked some protesters at the Port of Tacoma if they have any hope for a two-state solution in Israel.

“I think a two-state solution is not a bad thing, but I'm not there,” Thompson said. “I'm not dealing with every day what they deal with.”

On Friday, protestors in Oakland could be seen climbing up part of a ladder on the side of the ship while others created a blockade, ABC7 reported. The group of protestors was much smaller than the one in Tacoma on Monday, officials told KOMO News.

Petty officer Hunter Schnabel confirmed to ABC7 News that three people were detained at the protest in Oakland on Friday on charges of potentially breaching maritime facilities and trespassing laws. The three people had been released by Monday morning and the investigation was ongoing.

Kiswani, the organizer who spoke with ABC7 on Friday, said protestors hoped Tacoma workers would not load the military cargo in Washington. Kiswani said the group is calling for an immediate cease-fire and a halt to "the genocide of my people," according to ABC7 News.

As of 5:30 p.m., KOMO News reporters at the event noted the majority of protesters left the area. KOMO News reporter Karina Vargas spoke to protest organizer Wassim Hage, who said he considered Monday's events a "win" because they believed they delayed the ship from leaving for the next 12 hours.

After protesters cleared the scene, the ship departed presumably on its way to Israel. It's not clear where the ship is headed to or what was inside.

"The goal was to at the very least delay the ship if not prevent the cargo from being loaded, we forced the port and the ship to use military personnel to load," said Hage.

"This turnout is incredible," protestor Alon Lapid told KOMO News before 6 a.m. Monday. "The people here are all showing up to support Palestinian liberation return, to stop an ongoing genocide and to call out all U.S. military aid to this genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. We know that we have a responsibility and a duty to shut down this port because the military is literally going to be loading weapons and bombs that are going to be sent to the Israeli occupation regime to commit genocide today. We're all out in force for Palestine.

"We know that there are more folks coming."

On Friday, protestors took to the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, located at 915 2nd Avenue in downtown Seattle, to call on Washington Sen. Patty Murray for a cease-fire.

From The Associated Press at 5:30 a.m. Monday

Israeli troops divided the northern and southern parts of Gaza, as communications across the besieged territory were temporarily cut Monday for a third time since the war started. The troops are expected to enter Gaza City on Monday or Tuesday, Israeli media reported.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 10,000, including more than 4,100 children and 2,640 women, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

The developments came after Israeli airstrikes hit two refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing scores of people, health officials said. Israel has so far rejected U.S. suggestions that it take a humanitarian pause from its relentless bombardment of Gaza and the rising civilian deaths.

In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.

Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas.