Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been outspoken in her criticism of activists on Gaza-bound humanitarian flotillas, accusing them of posing a risk to a peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
On September 30th Meloni warned the activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) – a fleet of civilian ships that attempted to sail to the Gaza strip in order to break the Israeli maritime blockade of the beleaguered Palestinian territory – that their “attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade could serve as a pretext” to derail the U.S. proposal that “rests on a fragile balance which many people would be happy to destroy.”
Most of the vessels of the GSF had been intercepted by Israel in international waters by October 2nd; the first vessels were stopped about 70 nautical miles off the Gazan coast and hundreds of the GSF members were subsequently detained and brought to Israel.
Initially, the GSF had been escorted by both Italian and Spanish naval vessels. The Italian navy sent a frigate to escort the flotilla after various GSF vessels reported having suffered drone attacks off the coast of Crete.
The Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto released a statement after the drone attack in which he “express[ed] the strongest condemnation … [of] the attack suffered … by the Sumud Flotilla vessels, which also include Italian citizens”.
Crosetto declared: “To ensure assistance to the Italian citizens on the ‘Flotilla’ … I spoke with the Prime Minister and authorized the immediate intervention of the Italian Navy’s multi-purpose frigate Fasan”.
There were approximately 50 Italians onboard the GSF, including four parliamentarians belonging to the Italian Opposition: the European Parliament members Benedetta Scuderi and Annalisa Corrado, as well as Partito Democratico lawmaker Arturo Scotto and Senator Marco Croatti, a member of the populist Movimento 5 Stelle.
However, the Italian navy frigate Alpino warned members of the GSF that it would not “exceed … the 150-nautical-mile limit off the coast of Gaza … to avoid compromising the safety of those onboard”. Once this limit was reached, the Italian vessel did indeed stop escorting the flotilla.
However, the Italian Navy was also accused by the GSF of seeking to undermine, rather than protect, its mission.
The Mikeno, one of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla
Image Source: Global Sumud Flotilla via X
According to a social media statement by the GSF, “the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed that its naval frigate will soon issue a radio call, offering participants the ‘opportunity’ to abandon ship and return to shore before reaching the so-called ‘critical zone’”.
The Flotilla criticised the move, deeming it “sabotage” and “an attempt to demoralize and fracture a peaceful humanitarian mission that governments have failed to take on themselves.”
Before leaving the flotilla, the Alpino did invite activists to leave the boats and return to Italy. The Italian Government also repeatedly encouraged the GSF to dock in Cyprus and unload its supplies there, where the Catholic Church would reportedly ensure the distribution of the aid in Gaza.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised the activists’ alleged stubbornness on X, suggesting that their aid could be delivered to Gaza via safe channels and that their decision to break a military naval blockade made them complicit in risking the breakdown of “every possibility of a ceasefire”.
The prime minister also accused GSF members of not being “truly interested in … [the] fate” of the “civilian population of Gaza”, claiming that the activists seek “escalation” rather than peace.
Francesco Prinetti is an Italian doctor from Turin who is currently aboard the Conscience, a ship belonging to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a grassroots international solidarity campaign which has coordinated all civilian efforts to break the Israeli military blockade by sea.
The Conscience forms part of a nine-vessel fleet sailing from Sicily to Gaza and their objective is identical to that of the GSF: break the Israeli maritime blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Prinetti told EU Reports that the 100-strong crew of the Conscience is composed of “medics and journalists … the professional categories most targeted by the IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces – a critical term for the Israeli Defense Forces]”.
The Italian doctor’s stated mission is “to show solidarity with my colleagues in Palestine, who every day face murder, torture [and] destruction”.
Being an Italian citizen motivates Prinetti’s participation in the humanitarian mission: “My government is actually one of the most responsible for this genocide,” because, according to the doctor, Italy sends arms and offers strategic and political support to Israel.
The Conscience, with 100 medics and journalists (including Francesco Prinetti) aboard, sets sail for Gaza from the port of Otranto, Italy
Image Source: ICBSG [International Committee to Break the Siege] via X
Prinetti is especially critical of the Italian Navy’s involvement with the GSF, stating that the deployment of the naval vessels was a propaganda stunt, “a scam” and an intimidation tactic: “they … [constantly attempted to convince activists] to come back to Italy, abandon the mission”.
On October 1, the day the Italian navy abandoned the GSF, the Foreign Ministry released a statement in conjunction with the Greek Foreign Ministry “calling on the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety and security of the participants [of the GSF] and to allow for all consular protection measures.”
Prinetti also believes the Italian naval deployment represented a thinly-veiled attempt by the Italian government to “calm down” pro-Palestine protests in Italy proper.
Since the detention of the GSF activists, hundreds of thousands of Italians have protested and gone on strike in support of Palestine, criticising the Italian government’s alleged complicity in Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the Meloni administration’s continued refusal to recognise a Palestinian state.
Read more: Meloni refuses to recognise Palestinian state despite international and domestic pressure
Featured Image: The Italian Frigate Alpino docked in the port of Baltimore (2018)
Image Credit: R’lyeh Imaging via Wikimedia Commons
License: Creative Commons Licenses
