Boat trying to break Gaza blockade seized by Israeli navy
The Israeli Navy on Sunday stopped a boat that was trying to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip and started to tow the vessel to the port in Ashdod.Activist flotilla aims to breach Gaza siege with 'nonviolent resistance'
The “Freedom Flotilla” group said that the boat had been “seized” and that the ship had received a warning from the navy prior to the interception.
According to the group, the navy said it would “take all necessary measures” if the vessel did not adjust its course.
The IDF confirmed that it had intercepted the boat and was towing it to the nearby Ashdod port.
“The forces made it clear to the boat that it was violating the blockade and that any humanitarian supplies [it is carrying] can be delivered to Gaza through the port of Ashdod,” the military said in a statement. “The activity ended without any unusual incidents. The boat is being towed to the port of Ashdod at this time.”
The “Return” (al-Awda) is one of two vessels making up the flotilla, alongside “Freedom.”
The flotilla was organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an umbrella of organizations aiming to end the closure of Gaza, and set sail from the Danish port of Copenhagen.
A flotilla seeking to challenge Israel's maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip is currently some 150 miles from its destination and may arrive off the enclave's shores late Sunday afternoon.Flotillas, Politics & Italian Views Of The ‘Conflict’
According to French news agency AFP, a three-vessel flotilla left Palermo, Sicily, on July 21. One of the smaller ships participating in the sail had to turn back due to mechanical failure, but the lead vessel, the Awda ("Return" in Arabic), was set to arrive off Gaza's shores by Sunday or Monday, Pierre Stambul, the co-president of the French Jewish Union for Peace said.
Israel imposed a maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip after the Islamist terrorist group Hamas seized control of the enclave in a military coup in 2007. Israel maintains the measure is necessary to prevent Hamas from smuggling in weapons and terrorists into Gaza.
According to media reports, there are 22 passengers aboard the Awda, including journalists, activists and a Jordanian lawmaker.
Organizers said the flotilla was a "gesture of solidarity with the Palestinians."
An Iranian reporter on the Awda posted a video on his social media accounts Saturday, noting that "there is some medical aid on board, although the amount of medical aid is merely a gesture. We're talking about just a few boxes."
While supporting pro-Palestinian activists on the flotilla, Palermo’s mayor says his city respects the rights of both sidesGaza flotilla backers have history of Hamas support
It is hard to avoid the impression that Palermo, the capital of sun-drenched Sicily, is aiming to become the capital of something else: Palestinian solidarity. This is thanks to Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando who has done a lot to promote the Palestinian cause.
Just last week, the mayor welcomed another “flotilla” to Palermo’s shores. The word—now a key term in the political lexicon of the Middle East—means a small core of sea-going vessels (usually three or four) staffed with pro-Palestinian activists. The activists, who hail mainly from Europe and beyond, especially Anglophone countries, sail the boats towards the Gaza Strip where they attempt to break Israel’s decade-long naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave.
Flotillas have become a common form of protest within the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. From 2008 to 2016, international activists have sailed at least 31 boats to challenge the Israeli blockade. The latest one is expected to reach the waters around Gaza in the next few days, after setting off from Palermo last weekend.
Comprising four boats, the flotilla, dubbed the “Freedom Flotilla,” is carrying more than 40 pro-Palestinian activists from Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Malaysia, Canada, the United States, France, Germany and Italy. After setting off from Copenhagen on March 22, it stopped in 15 European ports before arriving in Palermo, a journey of 4,000 nautical miles (4,600 miles). The final leg of the voyage from Sicily to Gaza is expected to take up to 10 days.
Several of the activists and organizations behind the flotilla to Gaza stopped by the IDF just off Israel's coast Sunday, aiming to break the Israeli naval blockade, have openly supported Hamas.
The three-vessel flotilla is backed by the “Freedom Flotilla Coalition” of 13 organizations.
One of the coalition’s founders, Zaher Birawi, was designated as a member of a terrorist organization – Hamas Headquarters in Europe – by Israel’s Justice Ministry in 2013.
Birawi is based in London and is head of the “International Coordination Committee for the Great Return March,” meaning the rioting on the Gaza-Israel border in recent months, as well as the “International Committee for Breaking the Siege on the Gaza Strip.”
In May, Birawi posted photographs on Facebook of himself taking part in the “final preparations for the Freedom Flotilla” in Copenhagen, and at the flotilla departure point in Palermo. He has continued posting regular updates on the flotilla as recently as last week, although he did not embark on the journey to Gaza himself.
One of the flotilla’s funders is MyCARE, based in Malaysia, which calls itself a “humanitarian care” organization. MyCARE posted dispatches on Facebook from its associates on the flotilla, including Dr. Mohd Afandi Salleh, who they wrote had 116 boxes of medicine, and Aiman Khairul Azzam who was part of the flotilla’s central command.
MyCARE has direct connections with Hamas. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh publicly thanked MyCARE “for the continued support of the Palestinian defense,” at an event in Gaza in 2015, and the organization’s activists have posed with Haniyeh, together with their logo on at least one other occasion.