UN demands probe into Global Sumud Flotilla attacks
The UN has called for an independent probe into the attacks on the Global Sumud Flotilla saying anyone behind the “violations” should face accountability.
“There must be an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the reported attacks and harassment by drones and other objects,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan said in a statement.
As we reported earlier, organisers of the Gaza-bound flotilla reported suffering a series of overnight drone attacks with sound bombs and chemical agents dropped.
Italian PM says flotilla to Gaza a ‘dangerous, irresponsible’ initiative
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says the humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza is a “dangerous, irresponsible” initiative, hours after her government’s defence minister said an Italian navy ship had been redirected towards the convoy for possible assistance.
“There is no need to risk one’s own safety. It is not necessary to go to a warzone to deliver aid to Gaza, which the Italian government and the competent authorities could have delivered in a few hours,” Meloni told Italian media in New York before giving a speech at the UN General Assembly.
The prime minister said her government had proposed handing over the flotilla’s aid to Cyprus and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem instead.
The flotilla, which currently numbers 51 vessels, aims to break an Israeli siege that has been allowing only a trickle of aid into Gaza.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has repeatedly said the spread of starvation in Gaza is a direct result of the Israeli government’s policy of blocking humanitarian aid. In August, a UN-backed global hunger monitor declared a famine in the enclave and called it “man-made”.
Spain to send navy ship to assist Gaza aid flotilla
Spain will send a navy ship to assist a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said, after several boats were targeted by drones off Greece.
“We are concerned, and that is why we will be deploying a ship to ensure that, if necessary, our citizens can be rescued and brought back to Spain,” Sanchez told a new conference in New York, adding that the ship would depart on Thursday.
Italy announced earlier that it had sent a navy frigate to assist the flotilla.
