Amnesty International condemns ‘unlawful’ flotilla interception
The human rights group says Israel’s detention of flotilla activists is an unlawful act meant to penalise acts of solidarity with Gaza, where Amnesty has said Israel is carrying out a genocide.
“Israel’s forceful interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels and detention of its crew off the coast of Gaza is a brazen assault against solidarity activists carrying out an entirely peaceful humanitarian mission,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general, said in a statement.
“This seizure comes after weeks of threats and incitement by Israeli officials against the flotilla and its participants and after several attempts to sabotage some of its ships,” she noted.
“By continuing to actively block vital aid to a population against whom Israel is committing genocide, including by inflicting famine, Israel is once again demonstrating its utter contempt for the legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice and its own obligations as the occupying power to ensure Palestinians in Gaza have access to sufficient food and lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”
Flotilla interception required more Israeli resources than previous efforts
What’s going to happen to the humanitarian aid is unclear, but all 40 vessels that have been intercepted by the Israeli military are now in the Port of Ashdod just north of the Gaza Strip.
All of the activists on board have been detained and taken into the Israeli prison service, where they will then be deported to countries in Europe or wherever else they come from.
It’s worth mentioning that for months since the Global Sumud Flotilla was announced [and] since preparations were made, the Israeli military and navy alike were making preparations of their own, saying they were carrying out drills on how they were going to intercept so many vessels.
[That’s] because it’s much different than the other flotillas we’ve seen in the past where it was just one single ship. This one was more than 40. So the Israeli navy deployed many more resources to try to intercept these boats, nearly 130 nautical miles [240km] away from the Gaza Strip.
Territorial waters are only 12 miles out, plus it's not even Israel's territorial waters.
Across Europe, demonstrators stand in solidarity with flotilla
Students take part in a protest during a strike to support Palestinians in Gaza, in Madrid, Spain
People denounced Israel’s interception of the aid vessels, in Berlin, Germany
