Meloni commits to the safety of Italians in the flotilla

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The Italian Prime Minister assured this Thursday that her Government will do everything possible to protect the Italians participating in the flotilla that intends to take humanitarian aid to Gaza , although she defended the use of existing humanitarian channels.

Giorgia Meloni assured that “all measures will be taken to protect and guarantee the safety of Italian citizens abroad in such situations, as has always been guaranteed until now.”

The head of the Italian government was responding to an open letter from Elly Schlein, leader of the Democratic Party (PD, center-left, the main opposition force), questioning what the Italian government will do to protect the fleet, after Israel threatened to detain the participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla ("Sumud" is an Arabic word for resilience) and treat them as terrorist suspects.

While pointing out that "using existing humanitarian channels, and not just those of the Italian Government, would avoid exposing participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla initiative to the risks of traveling to a crisis zone and the resulting burden on the various state authorities involved in ensuring protection and security," the Italian Prime Minister acknowledged that "the initiative may also have a symbolic or political objective."

Meloni recalled that Italy already plays a leading role in humanitarian aid to Palestinians through the “Food for Gaza” initiative, which has allowed the distribution of more than 200 tons of basic necessities , food and medical supplies, even in the most isolated and difficult-to-access areas of the Strip.

Numerous Italian citizens are participating in the fleet of dozens of vessels heading to Gaza to break the Israeli blockade of the Strip, including four deputies, including two from the PD, Annalisa Corrado and Arturo Scotto, as well as Benedetta Scuderi (Green Left Alliance) and Marco Croatti (5 Star Movement).

From Sicily, around 15 vessels will depart on Sunday to form part of the flotilla, with around 200 volunteers on board, and will be joined by five other vessels, which will depart on the same day from the ports of Genoa and La Spezia, in the north of the country.

The Global Movement to Gaza organization, one of the organizations that promoted the Global Sumud Flotilla, denounced the presence of drones flying over the vessels that left Barcelona and are currently near the coasts of the Spanish Balearic Islands, also denounced by Portuguese MP Mariana Mortágua , from the Left Bloc, who is part of the flotilla.

In Italy, the Green Left Alliance reported that several Israeli military planes flew over Sicily on Tuesday and landed at the Sigonella military base (southern Italy), in an operation that it considered could be related to the Global Sumud Flotilla, and asked the radical right-wing government led by Meloni for explanations.

A party spokesman considered the use of Italian territory by Israeli military aviation unacceptable and questioned whether the operation was to "spy on the flotilla" or to "carry military material," commenting that, in either case, it would represent "very serious complicity on the part of Italy."

Israel has been carrying out a military offensive in the Gaza Strip since it suffered an attack by the Islamist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which caused around 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages.

According to data released by authorities in the Palestinian enclave, the offensive launched by Israel in Gaza has already left more than 63,000 dead.

On August 22, the UN officially declared famine in Gaza City , after experts warned that 500,000 people were in a catastrophic situation.