Greenpeace urges protection of Global Sumud Flotilla as it nears Gaza
Greenpeace International has called on world leaders to ensure the safety of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is approaching Gaza in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade.
The group said the flotilla is a “lifeline and a symbol of hope in action” and urged the international community to guarantee safe passage for the mission’s volunteers and humanitarian aid.
Greenpeace said governments have failed in their obligations to prevent genocide and war crimes in Gaza, and that “people are stepping in where leaders have turned away”.
European MEP on board Gaza flotilla criticises proposals to offload aid
The Global Sumud Flotilla has so far rejected calls to unload aid in Cyprus and turn back, including an authoritative intervention by Italian President Sergio Mattarella and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
In a video posted on X, European Member of Parliament Emma Fourreau said the activists were refusing the offer for several reasons.
“First, because we cannot trust a state – Israel – that has been orchestrating a famine in Gaza for months and that has been perpetrating a genocide for the past two years,” Fourreau said.
Additionally, “we are not a humanitarian mission but a political mission”, she said.
“We don’t simply want to deliver humanitarian aid, we want to breach Israel’s blockade that Israel has put into place since 2007.
“Gaza is not only living a dramatic humanitarian situation, but its population is locked up and not sovereign. This is what we’re denouncing and therefore we need to go till the end, until we reach Gaza.”
