West of Cyprus: Israel’s navy again attacks Gaza aid fleet

Two weeks after its first stop by Israel’s navy, the “Global Sumud Flotilla” set off again last Thursday. She set sail from the Turkish port of Marmaris. Activists from 40 countries traveled on more than 50 ships.

The pro-Palestinian activists wanted to try again to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since 2007 and is also supported by Egypt, and to bring aid supplies to the conflict region.

On April 30, the Israeli Navy intercepted more than 20 ships of the “Global Sumud Flotilla” in international waters near Crete and said it arrested 175 people. Greece took most of them in and organized their return journey to their countries of origin. Two activists were brought to Israel but deported after a week. Meanwhile, the protest regrouped in Turkey.

Several EU states, including Germany, expressed doubts about the compatibility of the stop in international waters with international law. Israel emphasized that the action against the activists was in accordance with international law. The Jewish state accuses some activists of having ties to the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.