Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned the Global Summud Flotilla mission to Gaza, claiming that it is endangering the prospect of a peace deal with Israel.
The flotilla, made up of around 50 vessels, is attempting to breach the Israeli naval blockade of the Strip, carrying a symbolic quantity of aid to be distributed upon their arrival.
Meloni even dispatched an Italian warship to help shepherd the fleet through the Mediterranean, though this has since been withdrawn.
But, responding to reports that she had referred to the flotilla as “a danger”, she wrote on X: “The truth is simple: that aids can be delivered without risks through the safe channels already set up.
“Insisting on wanting to force a naval blockade means making oneself – knowingly or not – an instrument of those who want to blow up every possibility of a ceasefire.
“Therefore, spare us the lessons in morality on peace if your goal is escalation. And do not exploit the civilian population of Gaza if you are not truly interested in their fate.”
Previous flotilla missions have been intercepted by the Israeli navy and roundly condemned within the Jewish State.
Should this iteration meet similar resistance, it is expected that the ships will be redirected to Israel, the aid on board distributed through established channels and the participants deported to their respective countries of origin.
Climate activist turned pro-Palestine campaigner Greta Thunberg is one of the high-profile names aboard the latest flotilla, having already been deported from Israel in June.
Flotilla organisers have claimed that ships have been attacked by drones while their radios were jammed by ABBA music off the coast of Greece.
They also claimed that two boats were hit by drone strikes near Tunisia, though this was denied by the country’s government, which also released footage purporting to show a fire on board resulting from a misfired flare.
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