The Israeli Foreign Ministry's recent call for flotilla vessels to "dock and transfer" humanitarian aid through Ashkelon Port in Israel cannot be understood as a neutral logistical request. It is part of a long-standing pattern: Israel's deliberate obstruction of aid to Gaza and its attempts to delegitimize those who challenge its unlawful blockade.
Since May 2025, after lifting its "total blockade," Israel has only permitted an average of 70 trucks per day into Gaza. UN agencies estimate that between 500 and 600 trucks are required daily to meet basic needs.
Israel's record of intercepting vessels, blocking convoys, and restricting routes shows that its intent is not to facilitate relief but to control, delay and deny it. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both condemned these practices as violations of international law and dangerous obstructions of impartial humanitarian assistance.
Israel's rhetoric against the Global Sumud Flotilla sets the stage for further escalation. Painting a peaceful humanitarian mission as a "breach of the law" is a pretext for violence against civilians acting lawfully to deliver aid. Amnesty has already warned that such threats "flout international law" and place lives at risk.
We are clear: the international community must not treat these demands as benign operational instructions. They are the continuation of a blockade that independent UN investigators have called a form of collective punishment and part of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
We call on governments, UN agencies, and humanitarian organizations to:
Anything less risks entrenching a system of forced starvation, deprivation, and collective punishment that is costing thousands of Palestinian lives.
