One thousand boats will gather in Turkey’s Bodrum port on Wednesday before heading to Gaza in a bid to break the Israeli blockade and disrupt Israel’s maritime trade amid a war with Hamas.
In an interview with the Turkish news website Haber7, Volkan Okçu, one of the organizers of the move, said the boats would carry 4,500 people from 40 countries, “including anti-Zionist Jews.” “Our goal is to disable the sea supply line to Israel for up to a week and 10 days,” said the Turkish representative of the action Volkan Okçu.
Among the 1,000 ships will be 313 vessels filled with Russian supplies and 104 with Spanish supplies, he explained. The activist told Haber7 that the flotilla is scheduled to leave Turkish shores on Thursday. They are going to make a first stop in Cyprus (the map shows it passing through Paphos, but it is not clear if they will dock), as sigmalive.com reports, before continuing to the Israeli port of Ashdod. Some participants in the flotilla will reportedly also have their wives and children on board.
Okçu said the main objective of the operation is to cause disruption off the Israeli coast in maritime trade bound for the port of Ashdod, in order to disrupt the supply of goods to Israel for a week or even up to 10 days.
The whole operation is reminiscent of the attempt by the so-called “Gaza Freedom Fleet” with the ship Mavi Marmara in May 2010, when they tried to breach the maritime blockade in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, but were intercepted by the Israeli Navy. After the Mavi Marmara incident, other attempts were made but were largely thwarted by Israeli military and diplomatic moves.
“The Zionist regime seems to have no chance of repeating the Mavi Marmara incident,” the Turkish organizer said. “The ships fly the flags of the US, the UK, Luxembourg, Russia, Germany, Spain, Poland and many other countries.” The activist noted that luxury yachts will also join the mission, and participants from Europe and the US will spend an average of $14,000 to participate.
Ex-UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman: Tinkering with a failed plan will not stop the boats
“We will follow international rules”
Okcu promised that those taking part would “strictly follow international rules” and not carry any weapons, “not even pocket knives”, so as not to give Israel any “pretext” to intervene.
“The moment we enter the territorial waters of Gaza, the Israeli forces can only search us,” added the activist, “or tow us to their ports and impose fines,” but he emphasized that “they will not be allowed by the international law to raid the flotilla in international waters, the way they attacked the Mavi Marmara in 2010. Israel would pay a heavy price for attempting any action against such a large international peacekeeping fleet.”
The symbolism of Mavi Marmara
The Mavi Marmara incident from 2010 has particular significance for the Hamas regime in Gaza, as a symbol of international support for ending the blockade.
On May 31, 2010, the Israeli Forces attacked, after warnings, a convoy of the international Free Gaza movement. The purpose of the convoy, as claimed by the ship’s commanders, was to break the naval blockade by carrying humanitarian aid to the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.
The convoy refused the Israeli government’s offer to sail to the port of Ashdod. Under the proposal, the Israeli government would first control the humanitarian aid and some items and then allow the aid to be distributed to Gaza.
The ensuing skirmish on a ship killed 9 activists, according to the Israelis, and injured 60 as well as six Israeli soldiers.
