A civil ship that transports helps Palestinians in Loop He was intercepted by the Israeli army in international waters on Saturday, confirmed the Freedom Flotilla coalition.
The manual flotilla carried baby formula, diapers, food and medicine. The passengers were arrested and the load was passed. The coalition said the boat was intercepted “in international waters outside the Palestinian territorial waters against Gaza, in violation of the International Maritime Law.”
“Israel He has no legal authority to detain international civilians aboard prostitute, ”said Ann Wright, a member of the Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee, in a statement. “This is not a matter of internal Israeli jurisdiction. These are foreign citizens operating under international law in international waters. His detention is arbitrary, Anawful and must end.”
This week, the United Nations World Food Program said the famine In Gaza he has reached “New and amazing levels of despair, with a third of the population that does not eat for several days in a row.” According to The Gaza Ministry of Health, there have been 40 deaths related to hunger this month.
More than 100 help agencies and rights groups have warned Or a “mass hunger” through Gaza.
“There is no one in Gaza now outside the reach of the famine, not even mine,” Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, who directs the pediatric room at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, said The New York Times. “I am talking to you as a health official, but I am also looking for flour to feed my family.”
There were 21 civilians from 12 countries in the flotilla, including Christian Smalls, the former president of the Amazon Labor Union; The member of the Parliament of the European Union Emma Fourreau; Human Rights Lawyer Huwaida Arraf; and two jazeera journalists. The crew members said they would go on a hunger strike if they were kidnapped.
“Israeli officials have ignored the binding orders of the International Court of Justice that require the facilitation of humanitarian access to Gaza,” said the Freedom Fleilla coalition in a statement. “The continuous attacks against peaceful civil missions represent a serious violation of international law.”
Arraf was among a group of activists who were looking to travel in a past spring help flotilla, when the population was already a consultant to be in Imminent risk of famine.
“We can’t sit and let it happen,” Arraf said Rolling stone At the moment. “People have been marching in the millions worldwide, and not yet our problems are listening to people. And so we are taking that protest to the sea and we are directly challenging Israel’s closing policy, the siege, which Anawful.”
Duration of that attempt, Turkish port authorities He blocked the ships To leave
From the mortal Hamas-Stherael attacks on October 7, 2023, Israel has led a brutal siege in Gaza and an almost total blockade.
Israel has closely restricted the flow of humanitarian aid, arguing that Hamas had been stealing help through the UN according to a Times Report on Saturday, military officers admitted that Israel had Without proof For such statements. The United States Agency for International Development, the Office of Foreign Aid Closed by the President Donald TrumpAdministration Found similarly There is no evidence that Hamas was regularly stealing assistance to Gaza, according to ABC News.
In recent months, Israel has been accused, in several cases, or Indisriminatedly shot In the Gazios Try to obtain food in the operations administered by the Gaza Humanitarian FoundationAn aid group created recently backed by Israel and the Trump administration.
Israel’s military Said Saturday that would begin Air help in gaza and implementation Humanitarian pauses aid this weekend. However, the Israeli army has killed more than 1,000 people trying to obtain food since May, mainly close to help sites, according to The United Nations.
“This is a deliberate disaster and made by the human being,” Joseph Bell Level, Executive Director of Medogobal, a charity organization that works in Gaza, He told NPR. “Those children died because there are not enough foods in Gaza and there are not enough medications, including intravenous fluids and therapeutic formula, to revive them.”
In June, the Israeli army intercepted Another humanitarian aid ship Of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Among the captured were the Greta Thunberg climatic activist and the member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan. Thunberg was deported The next day. Hassan I spent three days In Israeli custody, including time in solitary confinement.
“At the years, Israel has tried several methods to stop,” the human rights lawyer, He said to democracy now On Friday. “It has been very violent, for attacking, hitting, kidnapping, arresting, imprisoning and even killing our volunteers. In 2010, a flotilla that … was in Israel killed 10 of our volume.
