Both Spain and Italy condemned the Israeli army’s interception of the “Global Resilience Fleet” heading to the Gaza Strip, in an operation that took place in international waters near Greece and resulted in the arrest of a number of pro-Palestinian activists, including Spaniards and Italians.
Published on: 04/30/2026 - 18:07 Last updated: 04/30/2026 - 18:25
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it had urgently summoned the acting Israeli ambassador to Madrid, to inform him “in the strongest terms of condemnation” following the interception of the flotilla carrying Spanish citizens.
For its part, the Italian government condemned the confiscation of aid ships, demanding the immediate release of all Italians who it said were “illegally detained.” Rome called on Israel to respect international law and ensure the safety of all those on board the ships.
Israel intercepted the ships on Wednesday evening, in a move that the “Global Resilience Fleet” initiative described as an “act of piracy” against boats carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which is suffering from catastrophic humanitarian conditions due to the ongoing war.
In an official statement, the Italian government affirmed its commitment to continuing to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza in cooperation with international partners and in accordance with international law.
To view this content from YouTube, it is necessary to allow the collection of viewing rates and YouTube ads.
It appears that an application in your Internet browser is preventing the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must cancel its use.
This position comes despite the fact that the right-wing government of Giorgia Meloni is considered one of Israel's closest allies in Europe, but it has escalated its criticism in recent weeks of Israeli military operations in the region, and it also recently suspended a defense cooperation agreement with Israel against the backdrop of developments in the Middle East.
On the other hand, Israel denies imposing restrictions on the entry of supplies into the Gaza Strip, which is inhabited by more than two million Palestinians, and described the participants in the flotilla as “provocateurs” seeking to attract attention.
It is noteworthy that the Israeli army had previously intercepted another flotilla belonging to the same initiative last October while it was trying to reach Gaza, when Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and more than 450 participants were arrested.
France 24/Reuters/AFP
Keywords related to the article
The content you want to browse is no longer in service or is currently unavailable.
