Gaza aid flotilla illegally halted in international waters by armed Israeli forces
The largest effort yet to break Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza has been halted in what organizers described as an act of international piracy.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, comprised of over 40 vessels carrying activists and politicians including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, was stopped by a large Israeli navy contingent less than 100 nautical miles from Gaza.
Live video feeds from the flotilla boats showed crews preparing to be boarded by Israeli forces and being ordered to put their hands up.
In communications with the Israeli navy, organizers had repeatedly refused to abandon their attempts to break the blockade, pointing out that it was a violation of international law to impede a humanitarian mission. Their status remains unknown.
It is the third – and by far the largest – international flotilla illegally stopped by Israel. In June and July, crews were abducted at gunpoint and detained, with Amazon Labor Union organizer Chris Smalls singled out for particularly violent treatment.
Spain and Italy, which both sent naval escorts, abandoned the ships on Wednesday, urging them instead to halt before entering Israel's unilaterally declared "exclusion zone" off Gaza.
Organizers said this amounted to an attempted "sabotage" of their efforts to bring food and essential items to the Palestinian territory, which has been subjected famine and, according to a growing consensus of experts, genocide.Israel has no jurisdiction over the international waters where it intercepted the vessels, and its total blockade of Gaza is illegal.
Cover photo: via REUTERS