The Israeli intervention of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and hundreds of activists raises questions about what any nation can legally do to enforce a blockade in international waters.
The Israeli intervention of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and hundreds of activists raises questions about what any nation can legally do to enforce a blockade in international waters.
As dozens of boats sailed closer to Gaza on Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli navy warned them to turn back.
“You are entering an active warzone. If you continue and attempt to break the naval blockade, we will stop your vessel,” a member of the Israeli navy told the activists via radio. Then Israeli military personnel stormed the vessels and seized activists, including Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and several European lawmakers.
The Israeli action sparked condemnation from world leaders and human rights groups who say Israel violated international maritime law.
The activists say their non-violent, civilian mission is lawful. Though they carried only a symbolic amount of aid, including baby formula, food and medical supplies, their goal, they say, is to establish a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the flow of aid into famine-stricken Gaza.
Israeli and European government officials had offered alternatives for the flotilla to transfer its aid to the Palestinian territory, which the activists rejected citing Israel’s tight control on all that enters Gaza.
Defending their mission, flotilla activist and spokesperson Thiago Ávila cited a provisional International Court of Justice ruling that ordered Israel to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
“You are not allowed by international law to stop us. Therefore we do not comply with your request,” he told the navy via radio shortly before the interceptions began some 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) from the shores of Israel and Gaza.
