Benkadi and other participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla stress the UN’s responsibility to ensure the safety of the humanitarian convoy, as it sails toward Gaza with unprecedented international support.
Abdelhaq Benkadi, representative of the Arab Lawyers Union aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, stressed that the international community has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the fleet, which is carrying out a strictly humanitarian mission.
Speaking to the Lebanese newspaper Al Mayadeen, Benkadi noted that although the international community had previously agreed to open humanitarian crossings into Gaza, “it has yet to implement that decision.”
He placed direct responsibility on the United Nations for any threats or violations the convoy may face.
Benkadi also highlighted the “unprecedented popular support” from people around the world, who are supplying participants with the necessary resources. This wave of solidarity, he said, reflects the success of the flotilla’s mission even before it reaches Gaza.
For his part, Ahmed Yohman, head of the Moroccan Observatory Against Normalization, underscored the convoy’s symbolic significance. According to Al Mayadeen, he stated that “the first achievement of the Global Sumud Flotilla is breaking the silence on the massacre in Gaza.”
Yohman reportedly said that the initiative has strengthened the morale of participants while “dissolving individual identities into a shared, unified identity” in solidarity with Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail collectively on Saturday toward the besieged Gaza Strip, according to the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza.
The committee reported that 44 vessels departed from Italian ports, with six more scheduled to join from ports in Greece. The fleet is expected to take about one week to reach its destination.
‘Coordinated Mission’: More Boats Join Global Sumud Flotilla en Route to Gaza
The Global Sumud Flotilla is part of a long tradition of international maritime initiatives challenging Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since 2007.
Previous flotillas—most notably the 2010 Freedom Flotilla that included the Mavi Marmara—were met with violent Israeli raids that resulted in deaths and international outcry.
Organizers of the current mission emphasize that their effort is humanitarian, aimed at delivering aid and drawing global attention to the ongoing siege on Gaza, which has left millions of Palestinians living under severe restrictions and in dire humanitarian conditions.
(PC, Al Mayadeen)
