In the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and following the drone attack, we stand together in solidarity with the Freedom Flotilla!
On 2nd May in the early morning, we witnessed yet another violation of international humanitarian law: the ship Conscience, part of the Freedom Flotilla, bound for Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and medicines, was attacked by two drones. Hours before the attack, Israeli Airforce C-130 Hercules flew towards Malta and flight tracking shows it was flying at a low altitude over eastern Malta. Although the Israeli military has declined to comment, the Freedom Flotilla strongly suspects that it was Israeli drones that fired shots at the unarmed vessel, causing a fire and risking to kill the crew and the volunteers onboard (the evidence has been collected here). Following the Mayday call launched by the crew, a Cypriot cargo ship arrived on the scene and proceeded to extinguish the fire. The crew refused to abandon the vessel, as this would have meant leaving the ship unattended and probably caused the loss of the humanitarian aid it was carrying.
Palestine has been occupied by Israel since 1948, when 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and land. Since then, we have witnessed the proliferation of Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law, and Israel has imposed an apartheid regime on Palestinian people. While violence has been structural to this regime, following the Hamas-led attack across the Gaza fence on 7 October 2023 in which over 800 civilians were killed, we have witnessed an unprecedented escalation in which the state of Israel has been carrying out systematic genocidal operations aimed at eliminating the Palestinian population residing in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, there have been over 52,000 deaths, including more than 17,400 children, but there are many others who remain missing, thus the real death toll could be even higher. Journalists, humanitarian workers, doctors, as well as ambulances and hospitals have been systematically targeted by Israeli attacks, in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The Israeli siege, which has resulted in the almost complete prevention of access to basic necessities, including food and medicine, as well as medical equipment for the treatment of the sick and injured, and the destruction of the country’s health infrastructure, has been an essential tool in Israel’s genocidal plan.
Faced with the starvation imposed on the population of Gaza and the severe shortage of medicines, the Freedom Flotilla set out to break the siege by bringing essential goods into the country.
Breaking the siege should have been the task of European, Western and Arab states that continue to call themselves democratic while supporting Israel. Yet once again, members of civil society needed to act, putting their own lives at risk.
We recall how on 31st May 2010 the Israeli Defence Forces attacked the Freedom Flotilla while it was en route to deliver humanitarian aid, causing the death of 10 people. Unfortunately, as underlined by an activist of the project, «We live in times where ships carrying the most advanced weaponry in the world pass freely, and ships carrying urgent humanitarian aid to a starving population burn».
While Prime Minister Netanyahu plans to implement a ‘final solution’ that will confine the entire population of Gaza in 45 square kilometres and allow Israel to occupy the remaining 90% of the Strip, we condemn the European Parliament’s refusal to discuss the unacceptable and potentially lethal attack on the Freedom Flotilla and to condemn the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian people.
We strongly condemn the deliberate attack on a civilian vessel carrying essential goods and medical aid.
We condemn the silence and inaction of Western and Arab states in defence of the people of Gaza and in the face of yet another explicit crime committed by Israel, confirming its full and complete impunity.
We stand in solidarity with those who continue to resist in Gaza in the face of relentless attempts at extermination by Israeli forces, as well as with those who, like the crew of the Freedom Flotilla, continue to stand alongside them, denounce these acts and take action to stop the genocide.