Watan-Channel 12 Hebrew reported on Saturday, April 20, that the Israeli occupation is preparing to attack the “Freedom Flotilla” coming from Turkey, which threatens to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli channel reported that the Israeli army’s fighter jets, affiliated with Fleet 13, have begun training and preparing to raid the ship.
This comes amid information that the international “Freedom Flotilla” is preparing to sail from Turkey in the coming days to the Gaza Strip, carrying about 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid to break the siege on the sector.
The fleet consists of 3 ships, with the participation of activists from Germany, Malaysia, Norway, Argentina, Spain, Canada, and South Africa.
According to Agence France-Presse, the ships are anchored in the port of Tuzla in Istanbul, awaiting approval from the Turkish authorities.
سفينتنا “البحر الأبيض المتوسط” ضمن أسطول الحرية الدولي، والتي ستنطلق من أجل حرية غزة، جاهزة للإبحار!
هذا الأسطول يحمل أكثر من 6 ىلاف طن من المساعدات. وسفينتين تحمل 1200 شخصية من مختلف دول العالم. pic.twitter.com/ms17OApP8G
— الرادع التركي 🇹🇷 (@RD_turk) April 19, 2024
Marmara Incident
This comes after nearly 14 years since the “Marmara incident,” in which Israeli commando forces seized the Turkish ship after its attempt to reach Gaza.
The incident resulted in clashes in which 10 soldiers of the Israeli army were injured, and nine Turkish activists on board the ship were killed.
Another fleet is expected to depart for Gaza on Monday, on the 14th anniversary of the massacre carried out by the Israeli naval forces against the Freedom Flotilla while heading to break the siege on Gaza in 2010.
From Arish to Rafah
According to the Hebrew newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth,” behind the convoy stands Haymi Polat Yıldırım, the head of the IHH organization, a Turkish non-governmental humanitarian organization expected to sail with the approval of the Turkish authorities.
من داخل سفينة “البحر المتوسط” التي تستعد للانطلاق نحو قطاع غزة ضمن أسطول الحرية
الأسطول يحمل سياسيين ونشطاء من عدة دول بالإضافة إلى سفن مخصصة لنقل المساعدات الإنسانية pic.twitter.com/iYammIkf23— عبدالعزيز مجاهد|Abdulaziz Mujahed (@elmogahed02) April 19, 2024
Before the fleet set sail, Yıldırım held a press conference in which he explained that the fleet would include a Libyan ship and another Lebanese ship, in addition to another Turkish ship.
The plan is for the ships to dock at the Egyptian port of Arish and then continue from there to Rafah.
The ships will carry humanitarian aid, equipment, journalists, and “peace activists” from Turkey, Canada, South Africa, Spain, the United States, Malaysia, and Sweden.
Yıldırım said, “No one will sit idly by and remain silent about what Israel is doing in Gaza: genocide. We must save Gaza and its people from the cruelty of the terrible war.”
The previous Freedom Flotilla included several ships, including the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship, which carried more than 500 activists, mostly Turks, and three other ships belonging to the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG).
Among the individuals who participated in the previous Freedom Flotilla were Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in the Palestinian territories, Haneen Zoabi, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, and parliamentarians from Germany, Ireland, Egypt, and Yemen, as well as artists, activists, and writers from Sweden, and journalists from several countries.
“بدأت مقاتلات الأسطول الثالث عشر من جيش الاحتلال التدرب على شن غارات على السفن، والاستعداد هناك لكل السيناريوهات المحتملة،
حيث تجري في إسرائيل الاستعدادات لإبحار “أسطول الحرية” من تركيا إلى قطاع غزة، والذي من المقرر أن يتم في بداية الأسبوع المقبل. وفي الأيام الأخيرة، نفذت… pic.twitter.com/Dvhorpsm7z
— عبدالعزيز مجاهد|Abdulaziz Mujahed (@elmogahed02) April 20, 2024
The fleet departed from ports in Turkey and South European countries, heading first to Limassol, south of Cyprus, and then sailing towards Gaza.
However, the Mavi Marmara ship, one of the main ships in the fleet, was attacked in international waters on May 31, 2010, by Israeli naval commando forces, who used live ammunition and tear gas, preventing the fleet from reaching the Gaza Strip.
According to the Middle East Monitor website, a report by the Forensic Institute stated that the Israeli attack at the time on the “Mavi Marmara” ship resulted in the killing of 9 people and the injury of 56, most of them Turks.
The attack sparked widespread international criticism at the time, with officials from around the world calling on the United Nations to conduct an investigation.