Ramallah - Saba:
The Palestinian "Himaya" Center for Human Rights condemned the new crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces at dawn on Monday against the "Madeleine" ship, which was sailing in international waters towards the Gaza Strip.
The ship was carrying 12 peace and human rights activists, in addition to symbolic humanitarian aid aimed at breaking the blockade imposed on more than two million Palestinians in the Strip.
The Protection Center said in a statement, carried by Palestinian media, that it had monitored this crime, stressing that the targeting of the Madeleine is not an isolated incident, but rather comes within the context of a broader crime: the crime of genocide and systematic starvation perpetrated by the occupying forces against civilians in the Gaza Strip. This includes destroying supply chains, preventing the entry of aid, and targeting relief efforts. This reflects a clear intent to commit genocide, as stipulated in the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The Center emphasized that preventing the Madeleine from reaching Gaza reinforces the policy of collective punishment and once again exposes the international community's failure to protect civilians and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, which encourages the Israeli occupation to continue committing crimes without accountability.
The Center called for the immediate release of all activists detained on board Madeleine, revealing their whereabouts, and ensuring their safety.
It also called for an urgent international investigation into the crime of piracy committed by the Israeli occupation, as a crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
It called for the opening of safe humanitarian corridors—land, sea, and air—to the Gaza Strip, to halt the policy of starvation and genocide that has been practiced for more than eight months.
It appealed to the international community to take immediate and practical measures to impose sanctions on the occupying state and halt all forms of political and military support for it.
The center noted that continued international silence constitutes complicity in the crime, undermines the principles of international humanitarian law, and weakens the prestige of the UN system.
Himaya Center emphasized that the international popular and human rights movement to break the siege on Gaza, as embodied by the Madeleine voyage, represents the living conscience of humanity and must receive protection and support, not repression and arrest.
According to what activists documented before the communication was cut off, Israeli warships and drones surrounded the ship, jammed its communications, and dropped unknown materials on it before storming it and arbitrarily arresting those on board. This conduct constitutes a full-fledged crime of maritime piracy and a flagrant violation of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Geneva Conventions.
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