Facts on the Gaza Flotilla

Israel has the same self-defense rights and needs as any other country around the world.

Such a blockade has been deemed legal by independent experts, including Allen Weiner, a former State Department lawyer and legal counsel at the U.S. Embassy at The Hague, now teaching at Stanford Law School: “Israel claims to be in a state of armed conflict with a non-state group, with Hamas in Gaza. Under the laws of war, a blockage is legal. That includes operating on the high seas. You don’t have to wait until you are on territorial waters.”

As Leslie Gelb noted in The Daily Beast, “Israel had every right under international law to stop and board ships bound for the Gaza war zone late Sunday.”

Israeli authorities repeatedly offered to accept all humanitarian aid at an Israeli port and transfer it—under the observation of those in the flotilla—to Gaza; those offers were rejected.

On a daily basis, “some 100 trucks, laden with food and medicine, enter Gaza from Israel. Israel has never banned such food and medicine from Gaza,” as noted by the Government of Israel.

As Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes, “Well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel over the last 18 months equaling nearly a ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza. Millions of dollars worth of international food aid continually flows through the Israeli humanitarian apparatus, ensuring that there is no food shortage in Gaza. Food and supplies are shipped from Israel to Gaza six days a week. These items were channeled through aid organizations or via Gaza’s private sector.” Further statistics are viewable at: http://tinyurl.com/29jn6tw

Weapons were found aboard the Mavi Marmara ship that was boarded by the Israel Defense Forces, and Israeli soldiers who boarded were clearly shown in films being attacked by weapons and stun grenades.