Israel stops Gaza aid ships with claims Australians are on board
Israel’s navy has launched an operation against an international aid flotilla bound for Gaza in international waters, according to organisers. One group claims 12 Australians were part of the flotilla.
Israel has intercepted aid ships bound for Gaza in international waters near Greece, flotilla organisers say, decrying the move as an “escalation of Israel’s impunity”.
A second flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza sailed from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12, aiming to try to break the Israeli blockade.
The vessels were seized by Israel hundreds of miles from Gaza, said the organisers, Global Sumud Flotilla. It followed the detention of those aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla in October last year, including Australians.
“This is piracy,” the group said in a statement.
“This is the unlawful seizure of human beings on the open sea near Crete, an assertion that Israel can operate with total impunity, far beyond its own borders, with no consequences.”
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No state had the right to claim, police, or occupy international waters, but Israel had done that, extending its control outward to occupy the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Europe, it added.
National racial justice organisation Democracy in Colour has now released a statement saying the group “strongly condemns Israel’s abduction of 12 Australian humanitarian workers, including our board member and Wiradjuri/Ngiyampaa/Wailwan activist Ethan Floyd”.
“Ethan was onboard the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) when it was illegally intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters,” the statement said.
“Democracy in Colour is calling on the Australian government to intervene and fulfil its responsibility towards all Australians abducted by Israel, by demanding their safe and immediate release.
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“The GSF was on a humanitarian mission to deliver life saving aid to two million besieged Palestinians in Gaza.”
Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon said the flotilla “was stopped before reaching our area”.
In a posting on X, he added, “Our brave IDF soldiers are acting with professionalism and determination dealing with a group of delusional attention-seeking agitators,” referring to the Israeli military.
Israel’s military halted a previous flotilla assembled by the same organisation last October in an attempt to reach blockaded Gaza, arresting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and more than 450 participants.
Israel, which controls all access to the Gaza Strip, denies withholding supplies for its residents, numbering more than two million.
Yet Palestinians and international aid bodies say supplies reaching the territory are still insufficient, despite a ceasefire reached in October that included guarantees of increased aid.
– with DPA
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