The sick and polluted world suddenly got a breath of fresh air as a flotilla of 45 vessels, carrying nearly 500 participants from more than 44 countries (the largest civilian-led convoy of its kind in history), recently made an attempt to deliver essential relief supplies to Gazans by sea. The move has helped the global community to realise that the value, called Humanity, still exists, although it has been repeatedly defeated and rejected. In September 2025, 45 ships, called the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), set off from Spain with relief supplies for Gaza. More than 500 politicians and activists, including environmental activist Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg, were onboard those ships. Their main aim of the mission was to break the Israeli military blockade of Gaza in a non-violent manner and to carry out a coordinated maritime mission in order to deliver humanitarian aid to the crisis-stricken area. With this, they wanted to draw global attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories.

Fear that the flotilla would be blocked came true on October 8, 2025 as the Israeli forces intercepted the ships and redirected them to an Israeli port. As the interception of the GSF vessels took place in international waters, the move sparked global criticism of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Later, several international activists accused the Israeli forces of mistreating Thunberg and other members of the flotilla. After their deportation from Israel, 137 activists landed in Istanbul and met the press. Turkish journalist and GSF participant Ersin Celik told the media that he witnessed the Israeli forces “torture Greta Thunberg” as she was “dragged on the ground” and “forced to kiss the Israeli flag”.

Malaysian activist Hazwani Helmi and US participant Windfield Beaver, too, gave similar accounts, alleging that Thunberg was shoved and paraded with an Israeli flag. Al Jazeera quoted Helmi as saying: “It was a disaster. They treated us like animals. Detainees were denied food, clean water and medication.” For his part, Beaver stressed that Thunberg was “treated terribly” and “used as propaganda”, recalling how she was shoved into a room as far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered. Italian journalist Lorenzo Agostino claimed that the 22-year-old Thunberg “was humiliated, wrapped in an Israeli flag and exhibited like a trophy”.

Meanwhile, the concerned authorities in Tel Aviv argued that the fleets violated the international maritime law after ignoring multiple warnings. According to Israel, it was basically a political provocation in the pretext of offering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip! Although the Israeli authorities have tried hard to justify their acts, the international community has rightly realised that the Benjamin Netanyahu Administration plans to deliberately starve the people of Gaza to death. There is a universally recognised term for such way thinking: Genocide.

This incident has proved, yet again, that Israel is now capable of bypassing all international rules and regulations. As per Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles (nm) from its coast, measured from baselines determined in accordance with the Convention. Israel’s territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from its baselines, encompassing a 4,000sqkm area of the Mediterranean Sea. This 12nm zone is a belt of sea where Israel exercises full sovereignty, similar to its land territory, though foreign ships have the right of “innocent passage“. However, the Israeli forces reportedly intercepted the flotilla about 70-80nm off the coast of Gaza and it was a clear violation of international law.

After the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Israel imposed increasingly severe restrictions on the entry of goods into Gaza that has led to widespread hunger and critical shortages of essential supplies. Since the Israel-Hamas War began, humanitarian groups and UN agencies have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war and violating international law through its tightened blockade. However, Israel maintains that the measures are necessary to prevent the Palestinian Movement from diverting aid for military purposes. According to political analysts, Tel Aviv has always undermined international norms in an attempt to destroy Gaza.

In such a situation, the global community continues to hope against hope that world leaders should reinstate international sanctions on Israel, especially after the failure of the maritime mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Reports suggest that the major European powers were planning to impose restrictions on the Jewish Nation and to suspend cooperation agreements with the Zionist Regime.

Most importantly, Greta Thunberg has indirectly criticised the US’ role in West Asia, creating troubles for President Donald John Trump. The situation in Gaza is no longer a mere political issue, but an issue related to Human Rights violations and genocide. Israel should be held responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide as soon as possible.

Meanwhile,

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das