News - Middle East: The Israeli regime has threatened to block the Global Sumud Flotilla, a monumental civilian mission seeking to break Tel Aviv's naval blockade of Gaza, after the fleet refuses to “dock and unload” the aid it is carrying for the coastal sliver’s war-hit and starving population.

On Tuesday, the Israeli foreign ministry said it would prevent the fleet from reaching the Palestinian territory after it dismissed the regime’s request to berth at the port of Ashkelon and unload its cargo.

Tel Aviv claims it has to inspect the cargo before transferring it to Gaza itself.

The flotilla’s organizers, however, said the regime’s demand was part of its ongoing near-total siege of the territory.

Its record of intercepting vessels, blocking convoys, and restricting routes shows that its intent is not to facilitate relief, but to control, delay, and deny it, they added.

‘Dangerous escalation’ targets flotilla

Meanwhile, the organizers said the regime had escalated its “dangerous” attacks on the fleet’s vessels as they were trying to reach Gaza.

They cited “explosions, heavy drone swarms, and communications jamming,” saying the escalation served as a harbinger of stronger aggression against the fleet’s 500-plus civilian volunteers.

The GSF comprises more than 50 boats, which embarked from Barcelona late last month on a mission to break, what has been denounced by human rights bodies as, one of the world’s strictest and most inhumane blockades.

The flotilla has been described as the largest maritime mission of its kind in decades, carrying delegations from at least 44 countries.

Its potential success would mark the first time in nearly 15 years that a flotilla has reached Gaza’s shores.

Israeli officials have openly raged against the mission, with far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatening to designate the activists as “terrorists” and confiscate the boats.

Source: Press TV