Global Flotilla Condemns Israel for Attacking Humanitarian Mission to Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Global Sumud Flotilla condemned Israel for orchestrating a “systematic smear campaign” to conceal its crimes in Gaza, rejecting the Zionist regime’s claims that the seized vessels carried little or no humanitarian aid.
Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Friday dismissed Israeli allegations against their aid mission to Gaza as “verifiably false,” saying the convoy was loaded with medical supplies, food, and essential goods for civilians “being systematically starved by Israel.”
The flotilla said all cargo had been “meticulously documented,” with journalists, human rights observers, and lawmakers verifying the presence of aid on board.
“Israel’s denial is nothing more than another entry in a long record of lies,” the statement said, calling on international media to stop amplifying Israeli propaganda.
The flotilla reaffirmed that its mission was to break the blockade on Gaza and open a humanitarian corridor for sustained relief deliveries.
While acknowledging that the aid shipments were limited in size, organizers said they were both “real because they were urgently needed, and symbolic because civilian vessels cannot transport the full scale of aid Gaza requires under siege.”
The statement slammed Israel for waging a “systematic smear campaign” to delegitimize international efforts upholding humanitarian law, while “masking its own war crimes.”
It cited a pattern of disinformation, including Israeli denials of bombing hospitals, starving civilians, blocking convoys, and killing aid workers — claims later verified by UN agencies, human rights groups, and journalists.
“To repeat Israel’s falsehoods today is to be complicit in covering up genocide,” the flotilla said, urging media outlets to stop echoing state narratives that “cost hundreds of thousands of Palestinian lives.”
“The facts are clear: the flotilla carried humanitarian aid, Gaza is being deliberately starved, and Israel is perpetrating a genocide,” the statement concluded. “The world must end Israel’s blockade, famine, and mass killing, not its exposure.”
Earlier, Israel’s foreign ministry claimed on the social media platform X that the flotilla carried no aid.
Israeli naval forces attacked and seized the flotilla’s ships on Thursday, detaining more than 470 activists from over 50 countries. The convoy had sought to challenge Israel’s nearly 18-year blockade of Gaza.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed nearly 66,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, leaving Gaza devastated and on the brink of total famine.
