MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday he will join Italy in sending a military warship to protect an international flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza after it was attacked by drones off Greece.
Sanchez told a press conference in New York where he has been attending the UN General Assembly that the citizens of 45 countries were on board to deliver food to the population of Gaza and express solidarity with their suffering.
“The government of Spain insists that international law be respected and that the right of our citizens should be respected to sail through the Mediterranean in safe conditions,” he said.
“Tomorrow we will dispatch a naval vessel from Cartagena with all necessary resources in case it was necessary to assist the flotilla and carry out a rescue operation.”
The Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, with many lawyers and activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
The vessels were attacked by 12 drones in international waters 30 nautical miles (56 km) off the Greek island of Gavdos, said Marikaiti Stasinou, a spokesperson for March to Gaza Greece, which is part of the flotilla.
Thunberg told Reuters on Monday that they had drones flying over them each night.
“This mission is about Gaza, it isn’t about us. And no risks that we could take could even come close to the risks the Palestinians are facing every day,” Thunberg said in a video call from the ship.
Israel has repeatedly criticised the flotilla for its implied support for Hamas, but made no comment on whether it was responsible for the drones.
It launched the war in Gaza in response to attacks on October 7, 2023, by Hamas militants which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, the conflict has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and has spread famine, destroyed most buildings and displaced the population, in many cases multiple times.
(Reporting by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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