The new flotilla to Gaza denounces that Israel has attacked at least three of its ships in international waters
The Freedom Flotilla, with nine ships and which has been sailing for more than a week towards the Gaza Strip, denounced this Wednesday an attack by the Israeli army against at least three of its vessels, when they were 120 nautical miles (around 220 kilometers) from the Palestinian enclave.
The boats Gaza Sunbirds, Alaa al Najajr y Anas al-Sharif —which is named after the renowned journalist murdered in August along with four other colleagues from the Qatari network Al Jazeera in an attack by Israel— have been attacked and intercepted “illegally” by the Israeli army at 4:34 local time (3:34 in mainland Spain), it was reported in a statement published on its website.
This new flotilla has denounced the kidnapping of the “unarmed” crew, which includes doctors, journalists and political representatives, and has assured that “the whereabouts” of these and the aid that the three boats were transporting is unknown, which is valued at more than 110,000 dollars (94,000 euros) in medicines, respiratory equipment and nutritional supplies for Gaza hospitals.
“Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard these ships. This seizure flagrantly violates international law and defies the binding orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) requiring free humanitarian access to Gaza. Our volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or defying an illegal blockade,” said David Heap, member of the Steering Committee of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, in a note in which it described the detention of the activists as “arbitrary (and) illegal” and therefore urged their “immediate” cessation.
In addition, the new flotilla has indicated in its Telegram account that the Consciencewith 92 people on board, is being “attacked by an Israeli military helicopter,” while the eight remaining sailboats are being intercepted and their crew members “kidnapped.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has reported on its social network account In the same message, he noted that “another useless attempt to break the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended without results.” (EP)
