The much-publicized Sumud flotilla organized by climate activist Greta Thunberg is scheduled to arrive in Gaza on Tuesday evening or Wednesday, coinciding with Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. This development comes after Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement claiming that Hamas documents discovered in the Gaza Strip show a direct link between the flotilla leaders and the Hamas terrorist organization.
Just as the IDF was forced to protect the Jewish state from an enemy attack on Yom Kippur in 1973, a special task force has been established for its interception over the holiday with the participation of the IDF, Shin Bet, the police, the elite Israel Navy Shayetet 13 Unit commandos, and the Foreign Ministry. The force is tasked with intercepting the flotilla before it arrives in Gaza and bring it to Israeli shores, where they are expected to be detained and deported from the country as soon as possible. Anyone who refuses will be held in custody.
It should also be noted that the October 7th attack by Hamas and Gaza civilians on Israel was intentionally set to take place on Shabbat Simchat Torah. Similarly, the United Nations Security Council scheduled a critical meeting on the Gaza war during Rosh Hashanah, one of Judaism’s holiest holidays. The timing appeared designed to prevent Israeli officials and observant Jews from participating in discussions about Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas.
The leaders of the flotilla have been contacted by the IDF and warned of the consequences of their actions. The stated goal of the flotilla is to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of the wartime blockade.
Israel has offered to allow the flotilla to dock in Ashdod where any aid will be transferred to Gaza. Italy has also urged flotilla members to accept a compromise proposal to drop aid in a Cyprus port and avoid a confrontation with Israeli forces. But representatives refused the offer.
“With the peace plan for the Middle East proposed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, a hope of agreement has finally opened up to end the war and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population and to stabilize the region,” Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, asking the flotilla to turn around and leave the aid to be distributed by other means.
“Any other choice risks turning into an instrument to prevent peace, fuel the conflict, and thus strike especially at that population of Gaza to which it is said one wants to bring relief. It is time for seriousness and responsibility,” she wrote.
The flotilla comprises 47 vessels flying the Palestinian flag with thousands of participants from more than 44 countries. Sumud means ‘steadfastness’ in Arabic and is a key tenet of Hamas’s jihadist strategy. The flotilla is reportedly being accompanied by Italian and Spanish naval vessels.
“We say again: the flotilla sails onwards. The Italian navy will not derail this mission. The humanitarian demand to break the blockade cannot be walked back to port,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement.
The flotilla has been plagued by controversy. The European Union Commission has stated that they do not support aid flotillas to Gaza. Thunberg, originally part of the flotilla committee, stepped down in mid-September.
Last week, a Maghreb contingent coordinator withdrew from the project over the involvement of LGBTQ activists. Videos showed Tunisian activist Khaled Boujemaa accusing GSF steering committee member Wael Nawar of concealing that Tunisian LGBT activists were being prominently featured in the flotilla. Boujemaa threatened to leave the expedition if the issue was not resolved.
On Tuesday, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement claiming that Hamas Abroad, the organization responsible for activity outside the Gaza Strip, was directly linked to Hamas. A letter from 2021 signed by the Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, officially endorsed the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) while explicitly calling for unity.
Israel designated the PCPA as a terrorist organization in 2021 due to it being a wing of Hamas.
The second official Hamas document is a list of PCPA operatives, some of whom are high-ranking, well-known Hamas operatives. Among the names on the list are Zaher Birawi, who serves as Head of the PCPA’s Hamas sector in the UK, and who is known as a leader of the demonstration flotillas to the Gaza Strip over the past 15 years (number 19 in the document), and Saif Abu Kashk (number 25 in the document), an operative from the organization in Spain. This document was found in a Hamas outpost in the Gaza Strip and proves again their direct connection between the flotilla leaders and Hamas.
Saif Abu Kashk, a PCPA operative in Spain is the CEO of Cyber Neptune, a front company in Spain that owns dozens of the ships participating in the “Sumud” flotilla.
“Thus,” the ministry stated, “these ships are secretly owned by Hamas.”
While anti-Israel voices claim that Israel’s blockade of Gaza is illegal, legal experts claim otherwise. Vice Admiral (res.) Eliezer Marom, who served as commander of the Israel Navy from 2007 to 2011, told JNS on Tuesday that Israel’s legal standing to intercept the flotilla is unequivocal.
“Israel declared a maritime security blockade on Gaza at the end of 2009. This blockade is recognized in the world, in international law, and is in accordance with international law,” Marom stated. “Whoever violates this blockade, or wants to violate this blockade, and you warn him and tell him, ‘If you arrive, you may be harmed, and we will stop you,’ and he does not stop, then he is violating international law. You have all the authority to stop him.”
UN Watch also commented on the blockade’s legality.
“The United Nations itself, in the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry report of 2011 concerning the Mavi Marmara incident from the previous year, found that Israel’s Gaza blockade is legal under international law,” UN Watch wrote. “Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza,” determined the UN inquiry, headed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand. “The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.”
