Spain and Italy Send Warships to Escort Gaza Aid Flotilla

 

Both Italy and Spain have announced plans to send naval vessels to escort a convoy of pro-Palestinian activists en route to Gaza, citing risks to their well-being after a series of apparent drone attacks. 

The Global Sumud Flotilla is a protest group with a mission to deliver baby formula, medicine and food to the beach in Gaza, symbolically breaching Israel's naval blockade on the territory. All previous attempts have ended in interdictions and arrests by the Israeli Navy, all in international waters far from Gaza. 

This latest mission set off from Barcelona on August 31, headed for a marshalling point in Tunisia. On September 8, while anchored off the small port of Sidi Bou Said, the group reported what its organizers believed to be a drone attack involving an incendiary device. A second, similar incident was reported on September 9. 

Undeterred, the group got under way for Gaza with a combined force of 50 small vessels - a mix of fishing boats, workboats and yachts, most under 100 feet in length. On September 24, the group reported another round of suspected drone attacks at a position south of Crete. More than a dozen unique occurrences were reported, including percussion grenades, radio jamming, and an apparently malicious VHF broadcast of a popular song by the band ABBA. 

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto condemned the attack and said that the Italian Navy frigate Alpino would be dispatched to provide an escort for security purposes, in addition to frigate Virginio Fasan. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez followed suit on Wednesday and said that his government would provide an additional warship, the Furor, a lightly-armed offshore patrol vessel. Both nations have citizens aboard vessels in the flotilla. 

"The government of Spain demands that international law be complied with and that the right of its citizens to navigate the Mediterranean under safe conditions be respected," he said. 

Israel alleges that the flotilla has been infiltrated by terrorist group Hamas, and that it intends to carry goods to Gaza for Hamas' benefit. Israeli officials have instructed the flotilla's organizers to divert to Ashkelon and offload their supplies in port, where the goods could be loaded on trucks and added to the queue at Gaza's tightly-restricted land border with Israel.  

The flotilla's digital tracking platform shows that the boats have paused to regroup off the island of Koufonisi, off the southeastern end of Crete within Greek territorial seas. The tally suggests that so far, 42 vessels have arrived at this staging area.