Freedom Flotilla Coalition to bring aid, international observers to Gaza this month

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FCC) will sail several ships carrying 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international observers to the besieged Gaza Strip in mid-April, its Spanish chapter Rumbo a Gaza said in a statement sent to Anadolu on Wednesday.

Rejecting Israel’s control over the entrance of humanitarian aid, Rumbo a Gaza said it will not allow Israel to inspect the shipments.

“For everyone's safety and to ensure that aid reaches those who need it, the FFC will be bringing hundreds of international humanitarian observers from many countries and different backgrounds,” the statement said.

The voyage aims to “challenge the current illegal Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.”

Rumbo a Gaza said it is also sending an emergency mission to help alleviate the “famine in northern Gaza and catastrophic hunger across the strip as a result of the Israeli government’s deliberate policy to starve the Palestinian people to death.”

The NGO blamed the international community for allowing Israel to control the aid that reaches Gaza, saying it's like “letting a fox manage a henhouse.” It called for sanctions against Israel and more challenges to its “genocidal policies.”

Rumbo a Gaza said Israel is not complying with the rulings of the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to stop blocking the entry of humanitarian aid. Israel has long been failing to comply “with its responsibilities as an occupying power to ensure the health and well-being of Palestinians,” it added.

“The court’s judgment demands that everyone do their part to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza ... Until our governments take the lead in the urgently needed humanitarian responses, people of conscience and our grassroots organizations must act to stop the genocide in Gaza. When our governments fail, we sail!” said Ismail Moola from a South African organization that forms part of the FFC.

The organization’s announcement comes in the wake of Israeli forces killing seven aid workers after striking a World Central Kitchen convoy.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition was formed after the 2010 Freedom Flotilla mission, in which Israeli forces killed 10 Turkish civilians and injured 30 others while raiding the flotilla ships in international waters.

The coalition brings together organizations working to end the Israeli blockade of Gaza from countries around the world, including Türkiye, Canada, the US, and South Africa.

Israel has killed nearly 33,000 people since the Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas, which claimed 1,200 lives. The military campaign has led to mass destruction, displacement and conditions of famine in Gaza.​​​​​​​