Truck traffic restored after Pro-Palestinian protesters block B.C. container port

DELTA, B.C. — Police in British Columbia say truck traffic to a major Metro Vancouver container port terminal has been restored after being disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters for hours.

Delta Police say on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that inbound and outbound traffic at GCT Deltaport is running again, although truck volumes may remain heavy until a backlog is cleared.

A statement from terminal operator GCT says the protest disrupted truck traffic for about three hours on Friday, but “terminal operations continued without interruption.”

Protesters calling for an end to what they call “Canada’s weapons trade with Israel” earlier shared photos showing a long line of trucks blocked by flag-waving demonstrators.

They said in a statement the demonstration coincided with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and participants were students from the University of British Columbia and other community members.

The statement said the demonstration was also meant to target a Global Container Terminals executive who is a board member at UBC.

A similar protest in April disrupted operations at Deltaport for several hours.

The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada, and GCT Deltaport is the country’s largest container terminal with capacity to handle 2.4 million standard 20-foot containers every year.

Israel and Hamas have been at war since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, while abducting another 250.

The Gaza Health Ministry says the death toll in the Gaza Strip has surpassed 44,000. The local health authority does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.

— With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2024.

The Canadian Press