Activist warns Israeli attack on Gaza aid boat would be ‘another war crime�
If Israel attacks Madleen, 'that would be yet another war crime,' says Yasemin Acar, on board Freedom Flotilla boat en route to Gaza
ISTANBUL
Yasemin Acar, an activist aboard the Madleen, a boat operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) heading to Gaza, warned Sunday that any Israeli attack on the vessel would constitute “yet another war crime.”
“Basically, if Israel was to attack us, that would be yet another war crime. To add to their long list of war crimes," Acar said in a live broadcast on social media.
"They are the ones carrying the weapons. We only carry humanitarian aid. And what people need to do is they need to understand that we are civilians and we carry no weapons at all. Only humanitarian mission," she said.
"I feel like I always have to repeat this because of Israel's propaganda."
As part of the latest mission organized by the FFC to break the blockade on Gaza and deliver aid to the region, the 18-meter sailing boat Madleen set sail for Gaza on June 1 from the Port of San Giovanni Li Cuti in Catania, Sicily, Italy.
The ship is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics, according to its organizers.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza.�
The Israeli Navy is preparing to intercept the humanitarian vessel as it approaches Gaza’s waters, with plans to forcibly redirect it to Ashdod port.
