In a statement from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s US arm, organisers say Israeli forces carried out a prolonged assault on civilian aid boats in international waters, using gunfire, water cannons and violent boardings against unarmed volunteers attempting to reach Gaza.
Starting at approximately 10.30am Palestine time on 18 May, Israeli Occupation Forces began carrying out a prolonged assault on the Gaza flotilla in international waters. For more than 35 hours, Israeli forces attacked and damaged over 50 civilian vessels carrying only unarmed international volunteers and a modest amount of humanitarian aid. At least one boat has sunk from the damage – boats that we were going to donate to Gaza’s fishers.
Our flotilla is clearly not a security threat. But, Israel’s illegal and deadly blockade was never about security.
So far, 428 civilians from more than 40 countries have been abducted and transferred onto Israeli prison ships. Livestream videos documenting the final moments of the attacks on various vessels confirm that Israeli forces opened fire on flotilla boats, used high-pressure water cannons, rammed at least one vessel, and violently boarded the boats.
The final vessel still sailing was the Freedom Flotilla Coalition boat Lina al-Nabulsi, which was stormed by armed Israeli commandos a few short hours ago. The vessel was named in honor of Lina al-Nabulsi, a Palestinian teenager shot and killed by Israeli Occupation Forces 50 years ago, while still wearing her school uniform.
We have reason to believe that at least three people have been shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The full extent of the violence against flotilla volunteers remains unknown, as we’ve lost contact with them. Families and supporters around the world are still awaiting confirmation of their safety and whereabouts.
Outrageously, the Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), which has clear obligations under international maritime search-and-rescue law, to respond to distress alerts from civilians at sea, refused to respond to emergency SOS alerts from our vessels under attack. Governments that have the power to intervene have instead remained silent or complicit. The United States, among others, continues to support and enable Israel’s actions while failing to protect its own citizens from unlawful violence and kidnapping.
Israel’s latest act of piracy and global terrorism is not only an attack on the flotilla initiatives. It is an attack on international law, coordinated nonviolent action, and the fundamental principle that people have the right to oppose genocide and crimes against humanity.
We urgently need your support. Please share our alerts, contact elected officials, amplify this attack across your networks, and plan or join demonstrations and actions in your communities. Your voice and solidarity matter now more than ever. They can attack our boats, but they cannot sink our movement!
In solidarity & struggle for justice,
US Boats to Gaza team
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