{"id":304732,"date":"2025-10-13T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=304732"},"modified":"2025-10-10T07:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T06:20:48","slug":"israel-attacks-another-group-of-civilian-ships-bound-for-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/10\/israel-attacks-another-group-of-civilian-ships-bound-for-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Attacks Another Group of Civilian Ships Bound for Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The “Conscience”. Source: Freedom Flotilla Coalition<\/p><\/div>\n

Israeli forces have once again targeted civilian vessels sailing to Gaza, aiming to break the blockade and deliver medical supplies.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

8 Oct 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0In a new act of state terrorism, Israel has assaulted vessels from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and the Thousand Madleens to Gaza initiative in international waters, abducting more than 140 crew members<\/a>. The attack comes barely a week after Israeli armed forces targeted the Global Sumud Flotilla<\/a>, another civilian fleet sailing to break the illegal blockade of Gaza and deliver essential supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnarmed crew aboard, including doctors, journalists, and elected officials, have been abducted, as well as the vital aid worth over USD 110,000 in medicines, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies that were destined for Gaza\u2019s starving hospitals,\u201d the Freedom Flotilla Coalition stated <\/a>soon after the event.<\/p>\n

The latest mission to open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza by sea was specific considering that most of its crew consisted of health and media workers, two groups continuously targeted by Israeli forces during the genocide in Gaza. Nurse Stefano Argerio, speaking<\/a> shortly before his abduction, emphasized the peaceful and civilian character of the initiative. \u201cIt\u2019s a humanitarian, medical mission,\u201d he told Public Services International (PSI), stressing that obstructing it would only add to Israel\u2019s long list of crimes.<\/p>\n

Keep your eyes on Gaza, says Belgian doctor aboard Conscience<\/b><\/h3>\n

Aboard the \u201cConscience\u201d, the fleet\u2019s largest vessel, was Belgian physician Hanne Bosselaers<\/a> of Medics for the People (MPLP-GVHV), who is also active in the People\u2019s Health Movement (PHM). Having participated in preparations for the Global Sumud Flotilla, she joined this mission to help keep global attention on Gaza. \u201cThe Israeli armed forces want to totally annihilate it [Gaza], and they\u2019re accelerating the process,\u201d Bosselaers told <\/a>the Workers\u2019 Party of Belgium (PTB\u2013PVDA). \u201cEven if our media no longer shows it, we absolutely must keep our eyes on it. Humanity must heed the call of the Palestinians to stop the genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bosselaers, who previously volunteered in Gaza, established contact with staff from the Awda Association while en route. \u201c[They] told us live about how they experience genocide in their hospitals and health centers,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have great confidence in our arrival and it gives them hope and courage to see that caregivers around the world are mobilizing, that they are not forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Read more: <\/i><\/b>Palestinian health workers are fighting for humanity<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Members of the Freedom Flotilla and Thousand Madleens to Gaza initiatives anticipated the risk of Israeli attacks, especially after the assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla. Yet, instead of retreating, they called for even stronger mobilization from the medical community in support of Gaza\u2019s health workers and the flotillas\u2019 missions. \u201cWe know that what can happen to us is still only a fraction of what Palestinians have endured every day for 77 years,\u201d Bosselaers said. \u201cWe hope that seeing our rights violated as white Europeans might amplify the message and draw attention to the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pharmacist Aziz Rhali among GSF crew still held by Israel<\/b><\/h3>\n

As of the morning of October 8, six members<\/a> of the Global Sumud Flotilla remain imprisoned in Israel: Abdeladim Bendraoui and Aziz Rhali from Morocco; Christoforos Schuff O\u2019Moore, Eline Norli, and Samuel Rostol from Norway; and Reyes Rigo Cervilla<\/a> from Spain.<\/p>\n

Before departure, Rhali, a pharmacist and long-time human rights defender, highlighted the importance of global solidarity among health professionals. \u201cWe must also emphasize the role of Gaza\u2019s healthcare workers, who remain on the front line of resistance,\u201d he said. \u201cDespite everything, they stay, they work, they do their best to help the population \u2026 They need us, and we need them. Just as lawyers are pursuing justice through the courts \u2013 the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court \u2013 our role, as health workers, is to stand with our Palestinian colleagues. We can do that directly, by being on the ground with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read more: <\/i><\/b>Pharmacist on board the Global Sumud Flotilla: \u201cHealth workers\u2019 solidarity with Palestine must be practiced on the ground\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

PHM Global Coordinator Rom\u00e1n Vega told People\u2019s Health Dispatch<\/i> that Rhali had been struggling for months to reach Gaza and support his colleagues and patients. Instead of being allowed to provide essential care, \u201che was abducted by the genocidal Israeli regime,\u201d Vega said. \u201cWe are deeply concerned for his safety, especially after hearing of the abuse <\/a>suffered by members of the flotilla who have returned home. We are calling for his immediate release and for the protection of his life and rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go to Original – peoplesdispatch.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 Oct 2025\u00a0–\u00a0In a new act of state terrorism, Israel has assaulted vessels from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and the Thousand Madleens to Gaza initiative in international waters, abducting more than 140 crew members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":304733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[229,3282,87,865,88,1243,427,2111,880],"class_list":["post-304732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-activism","tag-freedom-flotilla","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-israel","tag-nonviolent-action","tag-palestine","tag-piracy","tag-state-terrorism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304732"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304735,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304732\/revisions\/304735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}