Pakistan on Thursday said that Israel\u2019s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was en route to Gaza, endangers civilian lives and demanded the release of all activists aboard the vessels, reiterating its call for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to its blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying medicine and food to Gaza, consisted of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 activists, lawyers and parliamentarians, including a Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israeli forces boarded several boats in the flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and took them to an Israeli port on Wednesday, disrupting a protest that has become one of the most high-profile symbols of opposition to Israel\u2019s blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan\u2019s foreign office said it strongly condemns the interception of the flotilla to deliver much needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza as a breach of Israel\u2019s obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe unlawful detention of international activists onboard the flotilla constitutes yet another flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law by Israel, and endangers the lives of innocent civilians,\u201d the Pakistani foreign office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPakistan reiterates its call for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire across all Occupied Palestinian Territories; the lifting of the illegal blockade of Gaza; unfettered access and provision of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flotilla is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war that has killed over 65,000 Palestinians. The flotilla\u2019s organizers denounced Wednesday\u2019s raid as a \u201cwar crime.\u201d They said the military used aggressive tactics, including the use of water cannon but that no one was harmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A video from the Israeli foreign ministry verified by Reuters showed the most prominent of the flotilla\u2019s passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flotilla\u2019s progress across the Mediterranean Sea had garnered international attention as nations including Turkiye, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
Pakistan, which does not diplomatic relations with Israel, called for immediate release of all humanitarian workers and activists onboard the flotilla and accountability for Israel\u2019s repeated violations of international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPakistan reaffirms its unwavering support and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle for the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination and for the establishment of a viable, independent, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders,\u201d its foreign office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flotilla had hoped to arrive in Gaza on Thursday morning if it was not intercepted. This was the second time the flotilla was approached on Wednesday. Before dawn, the mission\u2019s organizers said two Israeli \u201cwarships\u201d had encircled two of the flotilla\u2019s boats and scrambled its communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, the flotilla was attacked by drones, which dropped stun grenades and itching powder on the vessels, causing damage but no injuries. Israel did not comment on that attack, but has said it will use any means to prevent the boats from reaching Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan on Thursday said that Israel\u2019s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was en route to Gaza, endangers civilian lives and demanded the release of all activists aboard the vessels, reiterating its call for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to its blockade. The Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying medicine and food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international","8":"category-news","9":"category-pakistan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":534,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions\/534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}