JAKARTA - The UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, on Monday urged Mediterranean countries to protect the aid fleet heading to the Gaza Strip, Palestine after activists reported unidentified ships near their convoy in international waters.
"Don't interfere with the Armada," Albanese wrote on the X social media platform, calling on Mediterranean countries to "protect civilian ships that are trying to break Israel's genocidal siege of Gaza," Anadolu (18/5) reported.
Albanese also urged the government to "break the siege," "end involvement with Apartheid," and "uphold justice."
Albanese made the statement while reposting a message from the Global Sumud Armada, which said: "Unknown ships have been spotted near our fleet."
In its alert, which was uploaded Sunday night, the fleet said unidentified naval vessels, speedboats, and drones were detected near the convoy in international waters in the Mediterranean as the aid mission continued to Gaza.
This development comes after the fleet announced its arrival in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea.
Previously, the mission of the 2026 Sumud Global Fleet Spring, which aims to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver vital humanitarian aid, was intercepted by the Israeli army off the coast of Crete, Greece between April 29 and 30.
The aid flotilla was attacked on April 30 near Crete, about 600 nautical miles from its destination.
The first ships of the fleet, carrying humanitarian aid, set off from Barcelona on April 12, while the main fleet sailed from the Italian island of Sicily on April 26, with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade that has lasted for years.
It is known that Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, leaving the region's 2.4 million residents on the brink of starvation.
The Israeli army launched a brutal two-year offensive on Gaza in October 2023, killing more than 72,000 people, wounding more than 172,000 and causing massive destruction across the besieged territory.
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