​​​​​​File photo of U.S.-provided projectiles near an Israeli howitzer. (AFP)

Washington, December 19 (RHC)-- The United States has violated an arms embargo imposed by Spain against Israel by shipping weapons to the occupying regime.

The U.S. Department of Defense transported more than one thousand tons of ammunition to Israel aboard a ship that docked at a U.S. naval base in Spain, the U.S.-based website Intercept reported, citing the Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International.

It added that such a move by the U.S. ship, owned by Sealift Inc., would potentially breach Spain’s embargo on military shipments destined for the Tel Aviv regime, as Naval Station Rota, while partially operated by the U.S. Navy, is situated on Spanish soil and is technically subject to Spanish law.

“Shipments through American military bases in Spain of military materials, which may be used in the commission of international crimes, are harder to detect,” the report quoted Enrique Santiago as saying.

However, Santiago, who is a lawyer and a Spanish legislator belonging to a party in the ruling coalition, added that “in practice, American bases are beyond the reach of Spanish sovereignty.”

Spanish officials imposed the embargo last May to halt Spain's participation in arms sales to Israel, which has imposed a genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip since October last year, killing more than 45,000 people so far.

Since the imposition of the embargo, Madrid has blocked more than five vessels from docking at its ports under this policy.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has spent a record of at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the onset of the current war on Gaza.  The U.S. president, whose term ends in January, now stands accused of complicity in this genocide since he never stopped pouring weapons into the Israeli regime's war machine.

According to U.S. law, military assistance to a country or entity should be halted if they use American-supplied arms to commit war crimes. However, despite evidence showing that the Tel Aviv regime has used U.S.-made munitions in war crimes, military support to Israel has increased since the Gaza war began.