UN experts demand safe passage for Freedom Flotilla’s humanitarian mission to Gaza

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UN experts on Friday demanded safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, whose ships departing Türkiye will be carrying 5,500 tones of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international humanitarian observers to Gaza.

"The Freedom Flotilla has the right of free passage in international waters and Israel must not interfere with its freedom of navigation, long recognised under international law," the experts said in a statement.

"As the Freedom Flotilla approaches Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, it is essential for Israel to adhere to international law, including recent orders from the International Court of Justice to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid," it added.

Stressing that Israel's "genocidal violence" and "starvation campaign" since Oct. 7 now met with famine, they said that Israel is not only "failing to comply with its humanitarian obligations" as the occupying power, but also "restricting humanitarian aid, intentionally bombarding humanitarian convoys, and targeting both aid workers and civilians seeking aid."

They underscored that the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s demands include an immediate, unconditional, and permanent cease-fire, unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, and an end to the illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"The convoy is scheduled for imminent departure," they added.

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 waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv said killed around 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,300 injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.