The Palestinian Foreign Ministry expressed in a statement its “strong condemnation of the Israeli attack and aggression against the Global Flotilla.”

The operation is a moral and legal violation of international law and global norms, including the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and other humanitarian principles, it emphasized.

The statement expressed grave concern for the safety of the 50 activists from various latitudes who were arrested and held Israel responsible for their safety.

It recalled that these individuals were attempting to deliver aid to the besieged and starving Palestinian people in that territory.

Israel has no authority over the “Palestinian territorial waters extending from the Gaza Strip, nor over international waters,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

In this regard, it asserted that the flotilla enjoys the right of free passage in international waters, and therefore Israel, as the occupying power, should not interfere with the recognized freedom of navigation.

These vessels represent “a peaceful and civil initiative aimed at breaking the inhumane and illegal Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and ending the Israeli policy of starvation and genocide,” it emphasized.

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