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The ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla<\/strong><\/a> are north of Libya and west of Crete, approaching the last leg of their voyage, with two or three days of sailing before reaching the waters in front of the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n This will be\u00a0crunch time\u00a0for the civilian-led convoy carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians, as the Israeli Navy would likely prevent vessels from going through.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael will not allow ships to enter a combat zone,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a> Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, claiming the right to maintain a naval blockade around Gaza, which it considers a legitimate exercise of the right of self-defence, since it was designed to stop weapons smuggling by Hamas.<\/p>\n Israeli Foreign Ministry director general Eden Bar-Tal added <\/a>that the Flotilla “is not a humanitarian mission but a political provocation”. <\/p>\n By contrast, the Global Sumud Flotilla\u2019s activists believe\u00a0the blockade is unjustified and provokes victims and suffering among Gaza\u2019s civilians. They want to \u201cbreak the siege\u201d and create a permanent humanitarian corridor into the Strip.<\/p>\n The crew\u00a0is also prepared to risk interception by Israeli forces, as Socialist Italian MEP Annalisa Corrado told Euronews, speaking from the vessel \u201cKarma\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAs with previous [similar] missions, we expect that, at some point, there’ll be an interception by Israeli forces who may order us to stop and may arrest us. This is something we take into account. Of course, no one wants to be a kamikaze or a martyr,” Corrado said.<\/p>\n “What we\u00a0want is to increase the political and diplomatic pressure around this mission, especially because the objective is Gaza, not the mission itself. The idea is that once we get there, the pressure on the Israeli government \u2014 not on the Flotilla \u2014 will be such that we can help restore a humanitarian corridor,” she added.<\/p>\n The Flotilla was attacked by drones while sailing in international waters a week ago. The attack caused several explosions, seriously damaged some of the boats, and forced the fleet to pause in Crete. The crew of the unusable vessels was relocated to other ships, while a few people decided to disembark.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe day after, the force of these explosions was deemed strong enough to dismast a boat. So, just imagine being out at sea at night, with the waves and without the mast. If such an attack had struck just a few dozen centimeters differently, it could really have been a far more serious incident,\u201d\u00a0Corrado recalled.<\/p>\n After the incident, the Italian government proposed that the Flotilla leave the humanitarian aid in Cyprus, for it to be transferred to the Gaza Strip under the supervision of the Catholic Patriarchate of Jerusalem\u00a0and under the\u00a0direction of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a respected figure among pro-Palestine activists.<\/p>\n The Flotilla\u2019s board rejected the idea, despite maintaining an open dialogue with the Patriarchate. According to Corrado, \u201cthe Italian government is not a credible interlocutor\u201d, and the proposal coming from Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was wrong in both manner and timing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Italian government is not recognising the State of Palestine; it is blocking the suspension of the EU\u2019s association agreements with Israel. It has not imposed a total arms embargo [on Israel], it has not demanded a ceasefire, and the restoration of aid deliveries. So it’s clear that such a move, if not very clumsy, could certainly appear to be sabotage,\u201d\u00a0Corrado said.<\/p>\n