The Gaza Flotilla denounces shots from Israel at boats during the assault

BarcelonaThe organizers of Sumud Global Flotilla, the expedition bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza to denounce the Israeli blockade, have reported that several boats were shot at by the Israeli army while being intercepted. "Shots clearly fired at the Girolama ship," the organization alerted through a brief statement, adding that Israeli soldiers have fired on at least five of the boats.

The shots reportedly took place during interception and search operations carried out on Monday and Tuesday by Israeli forces in international waters. In a video accompanying the statement, a dozen crew members can be seen with their hands up during the Israeli assault. A voice demands they position themselves at the front of the ship and, as the activists obey the orders, several shots are heard, without their origin or direction being identifiable. One of the crew members shouts: "don't shoot."

This Tuesday, the Israeli Armed Forces continue the operation to stop the Flotilla's ships still sailing towards Gaza, after managing to board thirty out of a total of 54 that were part of this stage of the humanitarian mission yesterday. The tracker set up by Sumud Global Flotilla showed at midday that five of the ten remaining operational boats had already been intercepted. As a result, nearly a hundred activists have been detained (with no charges known). Among them is at least one Catalan member of the Fire Department.

According to the information shared by the organization, the activists will be transferred today to an Israeli port. The ship carrying the activists —among whom are doctors, journalists, and human rights defenders from more than forty nationalities— could dock from quarter past four in the afternoon (Israel time), but it is still unknown whether it will dock at the port of Ashdod (in the center) or Ashkelon (south of the country).

The organization denounces that the assault took place within Cyprus's rescue zone and, therefore, outside of Israel's jurisdiction. They criticize that Tel Aviv "continues to demonstrate systematic contempt for international maritime law, freedom of navigation on the high seas, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)" and remind that "all participants are unarmed."

"Concerning" precedents

The assault occurs just three weeks after the Israeli army intercepted a large part of the boats that were initially traveling to the Flotilla near Crete, also in international waters. At that time, they captured 170 activists. Most were released hours later on the coasts of Greece, after much diplomatic pressure. But they detained two: the Catalan-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek and the Brazilian Thiago Ávila. Both, spokespeople for the humanitarian mission, spent nine days in an Israeli prison without formal charges being brought against them. Both Abukeshek and Ávila, who went on a hunger strike to protest their detention, reported mistreatment, including physical assaults and prolonged isolation.

Given this precedent, the organization expresses concern for "the physical safety and well-being of all those illegally detained" and urges "world leaders to demand the release of the flotilla participants, the release of Palestinian political prisoners and hostages, and an end to the genocide and blockade in Gaza".