Blatant crime: Iran censures Israel’s attack on Gaza-bound aid ship off Malta
Iran has denounced Israel’s “blatant crime” in conducting a drone attack on a Gaza-bound ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists off the coast of Malta in international waters.
In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the drone attack “is a blatant crime against the people of Palestine and a terrorist act against maritime security and safety.”
A vessel belonging to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the Conscience, came under attack by an Israeli drone strike in international waters near Malta, while it was attempting to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory. The attack caused an explosion and fire.
The Maltese government said the fire had been brought under control, adding that 16 people were on board. But the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said 30 people were aboard the vessel when it came under attack, adding that the targeted ship sent a distress signal.
Baghaei said the attack was part of the genocidal and colonial plan against the Palestinian people to ensure the continuation of the food and medical blockade on the innocent people of Gaza.
The Israeli regime continues its genocide in Gaza by dropping bombs and imposing famine on the strip, he said.
“Depriving the wounded, sick, and mourning children and women in Gaza of food, water, and medicine is a clear example of a war crime and a crime against humanity,” the spokesman emphasized.
The blockade also constitutes a breach of the principles of international humanitarian law, he added.
He said the United States and other supporters of the Israeli regime are complicit in this crime.
Baghaei expressed Iran’s sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Iran calls on the international community and Muslim countries to firmly condemn Israel’s attack, prepare the ground for putting an end to impunity of the regime’s officials, and prosecute and punish them, he pointed out.
In March, the Israeli regime’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, banned aid deliveries into Gaza in a move he said was meant to pressure the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas into accepting an extension of the first stage of the ceasefire deal, which Israel broke.
The Israeli minister in charge of military affairs, Israel Katz, recently said no preparations were being made to bring supplies into the strip. He added that the regime would not allow any humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, confirming that food is being used as a tool of pressure against Hamas.
Israel has blocked the entry of food, medicine, and other critical supplies to Gaza for weeks.
Aid agencies say there are concerns of a full-blown famine taking hold across the blockaded Palestinian territory.
