On the night between Tuesday 7 October and Wednesday 8, the Israeli army stopped and boarded the “Conscience”, the main ship of the “Freedom Flotilla coalition” and eight other boats. Over 250 people were stranded in international waters and disembarked in Israel before being repatriated to their respective countries. SOn “Conscience” mostly doctors and health workers were traveling with the clear objective (also recognized by Israel itself) of bringing humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies, to Gaza. But despite several specific laws – such as the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), the Additional Protocol of 1977, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but also the more recent 1994 Sanremo Manual – to protect sailors, once again the Israeli naval blockade has prevailed. Francesca De Vittorprofessor of international law at the Faculty of Law of the Catholic University of Milan, tries to clarify the illegitimacy of the actions of the Israeli state.
Does Professor De Vittor confirm that Israel has committed yet another violation of international law?
“Yes. Israel is in fact violating everything. This second block is again as illegitimate as the first was. I’ll say this straight away, but perhaps we need to first understand what a naval blockade is and when it is legitimate.”
Please.
«The naval blockade exists in the international law of war and is regulated in the context of international conflicts. So a whole page should already be opened here to think about whether the one between Israel and Palestine is truly a war or an occupation. However, naval blockade refers to the fact that, during a conflict, one of the parties involved may want to control all ships passing through a certain sea area, for fear that they are carrying weapons to the adversary. On January 3, 2009, Israel instituted a naval blockade around Gaza, but did so in its desire to completely isolate the Gaza Strip. And therefore, as underlined by articles 102 and 103 of the Sanremo Manual on International Law drawn up by the Red Cross and applicable to armed conflicts, the establishment of a naval blockade is prohibited if it has the sole purpose of starving, creating a famine for the civilian population or denying the arrival of objects and goods essential for the survival of the aforementioned population”.
Can we therefore say that Israel acts deliberately in this sense?
«Israel itself has admitted that especially on this second wave of Flotilla ships there are only humanitarian aid and medical supplies. But the blockade operates anyway because in any case these ships would like to bring aid to the Palestinians. And this is against their project. The real function of this blockade is to continue the siege of Gaza, starving civilians. It is also what has been declared by the government since October 2023: “Not a drop of water, not a drop of food, nothing will enter Gaza”. So famine is being used as a weapon of war and this is also an international crime. Israel, moreover, does not recognize the Additional Protocol of 1977 nor the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. However, it has ratified the Geneva Conventions which always protect the activity of medical personnel. It is important to underline this in relation to today’s situation which has seen doctors arrested. And in 1951 it ratified the Convention for the Prevention and Repression of the Crime of Genocide. But despite this there is now a genocidal purpose in his actions.”
These ratifications do not seem to have much weight today.
«No, absolutely. Israel in 1951 accepted obligations to prevent and repress genocide, first and foremost not to commit one. But then also to prevent it from being committed and to punish those who eventually commit it. And now this blockade is illegitimate in itself also because it is part of a campaign that carries out genocide. Israel is violating the foundations of international science as we have thought of it since the Second World War.”
However, how does the issue of boarding in international waters impact?
«This is another significant aspect. Wednesday’s operation, in addition to being illegitimate, was also carried out in international waters. The naval blockade has precise coordinates, which Israel reported to all other states in 2009. In international waters the only state that can do something about a ship flying its flag is the flag state. Others, if they want to do something, must ask this state for authorization. And it goes without saying that none of the Freedom Flotilla ships fly the Israeli flag.”
So do the flag states, including Italy, have specific responsibilities and duties?
«What I have said so far is all part of customary international law. Italy and every other country should protect the people on their ships in every way. Without ambiguous phrases that are often heard. I would then like to underline that the International Court of Justice, certainly not a trivial tribunal, said on 19 July 2024 that Israel has no right to be in those territories. It also assessed all the crimes committed by Israel in the occupation and all the illegitimacy in the violation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. And the United Nations General Assembly, on September 13, 2024, issued a resolution in which it highlights that Israel must leave the occupied territories within twelve months. These months expired on September 13, 2025. Italy joins the Court and the United Nations and therefore is expected to implement a series of specific moves. From recalling the ambassador to interrupting commercial or diplomatic relations.”
