Almost 24 hours after Israeli soldiers detained 175 participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla, who were heading with humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, near the Greek island of Crete – more than 1000 kilometers from the Israeli coast – Israel and the Greek government confirmed a change of plans. The activists will not be transferred to Israel, as their government had stated shortly after intercepting 21 of the 58 vessels that made up the flotilla on Wednesday night, but will disembark on a “Greek beach,” wrote Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, last night.
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Apparently, Greece intervened to calm the situation. Guided by international law and humanitarian reasons, and as a “stability factor in the region,” the Greek government “asked Israel to withdraw its ships from the area,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement last night. At the same time, the Greek country “offered its good offices by committing to host the people on board in its territory and ensure their safe return to their countries.”
The Greek government has not revealed the exact place or time of disembarkation, but it will be in the “next few hours,” Sa’ar said last night. “We thank the Greek government for its willingness to receive the flotilla participants,” wrote the Israeli minister. A delegation from the Greek government will head to the activists’ arrival point to coordinate the actions of the relevant Greek authorities and cooperate with foreign consular authorities, who are “being duly informed,” added the Greek ministry’s note.
The Greek Government called for moderation and respect for international law, including the law of the sea and international humanitarian law, the statement emphasized.
The 175 activists detained by Israel are from more than 30 different nationalities. Among them, there are 31 Spaniards, according to the list released by the flotilla, along with denunciation videos recorded by the participants in case their detention occurred. Israeli minister Sa’ar assured that the civilians are “unharmed,” although they are kept incommunicado from their families and the rest of the flotilla members, which prevents confirming their status.
After the arrest of its members, the flotilla denounced the “violent” nature of the Israeli action, describing it as an “illegal military operation, which resulted in the kidnapping of civilians.” “The army boarded the vessels only to cause damage that prevented them from sailing and then fled, kidnapping the participants and leaving others stranded as the storm approaches,” it wrote in a statement.
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The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, accused Israel yesterday of having violated international law with the assault on the flotilla, and again called on the European Union (EU) to suspend the association agreement with that country “NOW.” “Israel again violates international law by assaulting a civilian flotilla in waters that do not belong to it,” Sánchez wrote on his X social media account.
Hundreds of citizens demonstrated yesterday in cities such as Rome, Athens, Istanbul, Madrid, or Barcelona, among others, to protest the arrest of the flotilla members.
After setting sail from Barcelona two weeks ago, the flotilla stopped at the Italian port of Augusta, from where it left last Sunday with the aim of reaching the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population. Most of the vessels not intercepted by Israel are in Greek waters, according to the flotilla.
They are trying to find refuge from the four days of very violent storms expected in the area, explained the former mayor of Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona), Laura Campos, who was on board the flotilla, in statements on Thursday night on 3CatInfo. Despite the Israeli interception, the flotilla’s purpose continues: “The mission has not changed. We went with one goal, which was to reach Gaza, open the humanitarian corridor, and break the siege.”
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