The Foreign Ministry on Monday evening issued a statement regarding the Sumud flotilla, which is currently making its way to the Gaza Strip.
In the statement, the Ministry warned the participants in the flotilla, to which it referred as the “Hamas Flotilla” that Israel will not allow any breaches of the naval blockade on Gaza.
“This flotilla, organized by Hamas, is intended to serve Hamas. Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow the breach of a lawful naval blockade,” the statement clarified.
“If the flotilla participants’ genuine wish is to deliver humanitarian aid rather than serve Hamas, Israel calls on the vessels to dock at the Ashkelon Marina and unload the aid there, from where it will be transferred promptly in a coordinated manner to the Gaza Strip,” it added.
“Israel urges the participants not to break the law and to accept Israel's proposal for a peaceful transfer of any aid they might have,” the statement concluded.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which includes environmental activist Greta Thunberg among its participants, claims to be an independent group not affiliated with any government or political party. The mission’s journey has been complicated by at least two alleged drone attacks while the ships were docked off the coast of Tunisia.
Tunisian authorities initially denied the presence of any drones in the area, but later reversed course and claimed that the vessels were targeted by a “premeditated attack”.
Thunberg was previously deported by Israel in June after taking part in another flotilla, the Madleen, which was intercepted by the IDF.
The activists were then given food and water, despite many of them having prepared prerecorded videos claiming that they were “kidnapped” by the IDF.
The Foreign Ministry said that the Gaza aid aboard the Madleen included less than a single truckload of aid, and it would be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Rosh Hashanah in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)