Israel attacks Freedom Flotilla’s ship: what the UN Convention on Sea Right says

The crew of the Madleen ship of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition during the attack by the Israeli marine forces. Credit: FCC

The Israeli Navy intercepted and attacked the ship Madleena boat managed by the organization Freedom Flotilla Coalition And started on June 1 from the port of Catania to the Gaza Strip with the aim of supplying the Palestinian population of food and other essential goods.

In the night between Sunday and Monday, in fact, the ship was blocked and hijacked from Israeli military forces to the port of Ashdodan Israeli coastal city: according to what is reported by Freedom Flotilla Coalition, Israel’s bordering on international waters, in a point north of the Egyptian coast.

The ship was trying to break the naval block imposed by Israel on the Gaza strip in force from October 9, 2023two days after the attacks of 7 October made by Hamas: on board the boat are present 12 activists in totalincluding the Swedish Greta Thunberg And Rhyme hassana French European Championship of Palestinian origins.

According to what reported by the FFC, “the Israeli army seized the ship, with the crew that was kidnapped by Israeli forces”. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has instead published a video in which it shows activists while they are supplied with sandwiches and water, waiting to land on the Israeli coasts and then be repatriated towards their countries of origin. The authorities then specified that access to the maritime area of ​​the Costa di Gaza is prohibited due to the naval block: the boat, however, was not in that area, but was still in international waters.

But are there international agreements that regulate the right of the sea? Yes. In this case, the international treaty that could be applied is UN Convention on the Law of the Seaalso known as Montego Bay Convention.

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The attack on Freedom Flotilla by Israel: what happened

The veive of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, 18 meters long, sailed last June 1 from the port of Catania with the Gaza Strip: the ship transported modest quantities of food and essential goods intended for the Palestinian populationwhich has been suffering from a serious food crisis for months. Between March and May, in fact, Israel totally blocked the entrances of food, medicines or fuel in the Gaza Strip. At the moment, some deliveries have taken part in part, but in completely insufficient quantities for the population and under the exclusive management of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an organization created by Israel and precisely for this reason he accused of being another tool in the hands of the Israeli state.

The Israeli authorities accused activists of having exploited a dramatic situation exclusively to advertise: the Israeli defense minister Israel Katz, among other things, he ordered the IDF (the Israeli defense forces) to transmit the video of the attacks on the ship 7 October. “It is right that the anti -Semitic Greta Thunberg and his supporting friends of Hamas see exactly what the Hamas terrorist organization is, the one who came to support and on behalf of which they act, and the atrocities that he committed against women, elderly and children, and against which Israel is fighting to defend themselves,” said Katz.

Freedom Flotilla Coalition instead contested the Israeli version, accusing the authorities of “Kidnapping” After the communication with the Madleen ship was lost. The organization said the ship was attacked “In international waters”with the Israeli forces that would use several drones to spray a “White irritating substance” before climbing on board. At that moment the activation of the alarms and the preparation of the rescue jackets took place.

Among other things, it is not the first time that Freedom Flotilla Coalition tries to reach Gaza for humanitarian purposes: already Last May there was a first attemptbut the ship had been attacked off Malta by a drone, whose origin was not formally ascertained. Also in this case, therefore, the boat was in international waters, with the drones that had caused a fire and serious damage to the ship’s hull.

International sea law: freedom on the high seas and passage harmless

But what does international law say in this regard? In the 1982 The international community has created an agreement that regulates the behavior of the states within the sea: it is UN Convention on Sea Law (UNCLOS)also known as Montego Bay convention.

Specifically, this treaty distinguishes between territorial waters, which extend up to 12 miles from the coast and subjected to the sovereignty of a state (and therefore considered as part of its territory), and the high sea, i.e. international waters, for which no state has exclusive competence, but there is a collaboration and cooperation between the States.

Some of the fundamental principles that regulate the high sea are contained in articles 87, 88 and 89:

Article 87: The high sea is open to all states, both coastal and coastal. The freedom of the Upper Sea is exercised according to the conditions sanctioned by this Convention and by other rules of international law. (…)

Article 88: The high sea must be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.

Article 89: No state can legitimately claim to subject any part of the high sea to its sovereignty.

As for Israel’s attack on the FFC ship, it must be specified that Madleen is not a military boat, but, on the contrary, it has one purely humanitarian purpose. In practice, therefore, his approach to the Gaza Strip it did not involve any danger for Israel’s safety or securitynot being present aboard weapons and having been specified by activists that the only goal was to bring food and assets of the highest necessity to the Palestinian population.

The ship, then, was even found in international waters, on which Israel could therefore not claim any type of sovereignty.

The Montego Bay Convention, among other things, even recognizes the “right of harmless passage” in the territorial waters of a state by a foreign ship:

Article 17: Under the conditions of this convention, the ships of all states, coastal or without coast, enjoy the right of harmless passage through the territorial sea.

Article 19: The passage is harmless as long as it does not cause prejudice to peace, good order and safety of the coastal state. (…).

Net of the naval block established by Israel, therefore, the Madleen ship could have reached the Gaza strip without violating the international law of the sea: being without weapons, military purposes of any kind and not being intent on undermining the existence and safety of the state of Israel, its passage could have been cataloged as a harmful passage.

In any case, the FFC boat was neither within the territorial waters, And he was not yet violating the naval block imposed on the Gaza strip, which in fact conveys the entry or exit of any ship from the port involved in the blockade.

But, in the face of the attack of Israeli forces, who is competent to intervene? La Madleen I amat British flag: This means that the boat is considered part of the British territory. In other words, a possible attack on a British ship could be considered a direct attack on the territory of the United Kingdom. On board the ship, then, there are citizens of different parts of the world: in this case, the countries of origin would also be competent to intervene, being citizens under their jurisdiction.

In general, however, since it is a potential violation of international law, the main organization in charge of intervening would be the UN.

The main problem of the United Nations lies in its composition: the only organ to be able to intervene with a binding (and therefore mandatory) measure to stop Israel is the Security Councilcomposed of 5 permanent members (USA, UK, France, China and Russia) that enjoy the right of veto, with which they can block any type of resolution. As already happened on previous occasions, it is possible that in the case of an intervention by the Security Council, the United States impose their veto to prevent the UN sanctions from the Israeli government.