“This is an attack on humanity,” reads the caption of the video, which denounced “Israeli violence against volunteers who sailed with compassion and love in their hearts.”
“With their hands raised in the air, the participants pleaded: Do not shoot,” the GSF said. “This is an attack on Gaza. This is an attack on humanity.”
“The Israeli occupation has once again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian ships and kidnapped our volunteers while they were carrying out a legitimate mission to break the illegal blockade of Gaza and open a humanitarian corridor,” GSF said after the latest seizures, which began on Monday, as reported by Common Dreams.
“This is what apartheid looks like: when those who try to save lives are met with bullets,” the group continued. “When aid is brutally withheld. When international law is flouted. Israel openly brags that it will be targeted on the basis of race. We cannot stand idly by while this is normalized.”
In another video to publish By GSF, one of the members was seen speaking on the ship’s radio – apparently he was at least one of her own Crammed By Israeli forces, who broadcast Britney Spears’ 2000 song “Oops!…I Did It Again” over their loudspeakers.
The man says: “Labor Day! Labor Day! Labor Day! This sloop Zephyro… We are surrounded by military ships, we are aware that other ships in our fleet have been detained on board, and we expect a further escalation of hostilities.” “We are in international waters and we are suffering from an act of piracy!”
The GSF said hundreds of activists from more than 40 countries were “forcibly transferred” to Israel, where former flotilla participants say they were subjected to physical and psychological torture at the hands of their captors.
2010, Israeli forces I raided One of the first flotillas heading to Gaza, killing nine volunteers on board M.V There is no MarmaraAmong them is a Turkish-American teenager Furkan Dogan.
“States have an obligation to protect their citizens,” the GSF said on Tuesday. “The flag states under whose jurisdiction our boats are registered are obligated to protect those vessels and prosecute acts of piracy in their courts.”
The organization added, “We are outraged by the normalization of these violations of international maritime law and the kidnapping of peaceful civilians in international waters.” “We demand the immediate release of our participants, the safe passage of our entire fleet, and an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza.”
On Monday, Israeli forces reportedly seized 41 GSF ships that sailed from Marmaris, Türkiye last week. Among the activists kidnapped on Monday was Dr. Margaret Connolly, the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly. Ireland is one of about 20 countries that have officially joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, which is currently before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
“This appears to have happened in international waters, and that’s really a cause for concern, and I’m very proud of my sister, but I’m worried about her,” the president said. He said Monday.
In stark contrast to the Trump administration on Tuesday Announce The US Treasury imposes sanctions on four flotilla organizers.
More than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured in Gaza, including thousands who are missing and presumed dead and buried under rubble. Almost all of Gaza’s approximately 2.1 million residents have been forcibly displaced, starved or sick due to war and the Israeli blockade since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Palestinians are still starving in Gaza, where an ongoing Israeli blockade – which began two decades ago – has led to a sharp decline in the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Strip in recent months. Recently, the United Nations World Food Programme He said At least 1.6 million people – or 77% of Gaza’s population – continue to “face high levels of acute food insecurity,” including more than 100,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The GSF on Tuesday urged Palestine advocates around the world to contact their governments and demand the immediate release of flotilla members, condemn Israeli crimes and state terrorism, end Israeli impunity, and support Palestinian liberation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court – also in The Hague – for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, He praised The naval commander responsible for intercepting the fleet.
“You are doing a wonderful job, both in the First Fleet and in this part as well, and have effectively thwarted a malicious plan aimed at breaking the isolation we impose on Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” he said on Monday. “You are doing it very successfully, and I must say that too, quietly, and certainly with less publicity than our enemies expected.”
Israeli officials did so She was called over and over again The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea – often shortened to the “San Remo Manual”. San Remo Guide– To justify the interception and confiscation of fleet ships that were trying to reach Gaza on the high seas.
But Don Rothwell, professor of international law at the Australian National University, refuted the legitimacy of that claim, which applies to international war between sovereign states, given the lack of independence of Palestine.
He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday, “There is no international armed conflict between Israel and the independent State of Palestine.” “As such, any attempt to impose a blockade… has no legal basis under international law,” he added.
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