An early morning Israeli airstrike taregted the Hamdan family house in Al-Nuseirat camp. According to the victims' family, the strike killed a mother and her infant and critically injured the father. The latter was found beheaded. **Names of the martyrs:** 1. Rashad Abu Hayya 2. Rashad's wife 3. Amro Rashad Abu Hayya (infant son)

Around 4:30 pm, an Israeli strike targeted a clothes shop belonging to the Abu Amro family at Al-Kanz area in Gaza City, killing at least four people. The strike was near the car of journalist Amjad Al-Fayoumi who was unharmed.  Journalist Anas Al-Sharif also reported being a short distance away from the blast.  **Names of the martyrs:** 1. Jalal Rabah Abu Amro 2. Muhammad Roshdi Abu Amro (Jalal's nephew) 3. Ahmad Rabhi Ayad 4. Majed Rami Abu Nasr

Around midday, fisherman Ahmed Ali Othman Miqdad was killed and his brother Mohammad, was seriously injured as a result of Israeli navy opening fire on them in the sea of Al-Shati camp.

**On April 8,** Israeli officials published a closure orders issued against six of UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem by entering by force together with armed police. These schools serve some 800 boys and girls, who have no alternatives for their right to education. These closure orders are subject to a 30-day implementation period, are illegal.As UNRWA schools are operationally independent and inviolable under international law, Israel is obliged to protect UN staff and facilities at all times. This crackdown follows recent anti-UNWRA legislative measures in the Knesset, as well as other legislation aimed at banning Palestinians with degrees from Palestinian universities from teaching in schools run by Israeli authorities, further codifying apartheid and educational segregation. **On May 6,** one month later, armed Israeli forces stormed and forcibly shut down three UNRWA-run schools in the Shuafat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem, enforcing illegal closure orders issued on 8 April, 2025. On May 6, Israeli forces stormed schools within the Shuafat refugee camp that were operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), ordering their closure and for all students to be dismissed : - More than 550 Palestinian children, between the ages of six and 15, were sent home, - Teachers were harassed - One UNRWA staff member was detained. These evacuations left children in tears and left families wondering how their children would continue their education. Palestinian children now face an immediate and devastating loss of access to education. These schools are not only lifelines for Palestinian children, but they are also UN institutions, operating under a mandate granted by the UN General Assembly that explicitly includes East Jerusalem. **Statement of the Accountability Program Director at DCIP** “These acts are a blatant attack on children’s right to an education, on international law, and on the presence of Palestinians in their capital. Forcing children out of their schools at gunpoint is not a security measure—it is a tactic of erasure.” Israel’s assault on UNRWA violates its obligations as a UN member state and is a calculated effort to strip Palestinians of critical, internationally guaranteed resources. DCIP calls on the international community to condemn these acts, enforce international legal obligations, and take immediate steps to protect Palestinian children’s right to education from the growing threat of Israeli state violence and repression. **Philippe Lazzarini, chief of UNRWA, Statement :** *“An assault on children. An assault on education. A sad day in occupied East Jerusalem. This morning, heavily armed Israeli Forces entered three UNRWA schools in Shu’fat Camp in occupied East Jerusalem, forcing over 550 girls and boys who were in classrooms out of their schools. One UNRWA staff member was detained. As a result, UNRWA was forced to evacuate all children across the six schools it runs in East Jerusalem. Now, nearly 800 girls and boys - some as young as 6 years old - are left in shock and trauma. Storming schools and forcing them shut is a blatant disregard of international law. These schools are inviolable premises of the United Nations. By enforcing closure orders issued last month, the Israeli authorities are denying Palestinian children their basic right to learn. UNRWA schools must continue to be open to safeguard an entire generation of children.”* @UNLazzarini  *The posted closure order on the UNRWA Jerusalem Girls’ Elementary School in the town of Silwan after the school’s headquarters were raided.*

Around 11 pm, an Israeli airstrike targeted the house of the Abu Rayan family in the vicinity of Tal Al-Rabie school in Beit Lahia, killing five people including three siblings (minors) **Names of the martyrs (identified):** 1. Hamza Nidal Al-Far 2. Aya Nidal Al-Far 3. Malak Nidal Al-Far

Around 5 pm, an Israeli airstrike targeted the house of Al-Bady family in Beit Lahia, killing seven people. **Names of the martyrs:** 1. Widad Al-Badi "Umm Sami" 2. Salama Jamal Al-Budy 3. Hadeel Jamal Al-Budy 4. Mona May El Budy 5. Jamal Muhammad Al-Budy (child) 6. Razan Salama Al-Budy 7. Haitham Thabet

Around 6 pm, a double Israeli airstrike targeted the Abu Hamisa South School in Al-Bureij refugee camp in Central Gaza, killing around 20 people and destorying displacement tents in the courtyard. Around 10:20 pm, a second Israeli airstrike targeted the the Abu Hamisa North School. The IDF had warned that it would strike the adjacent Ibad al-Rahman mosque. As such, displaced people sheltering in the mosque moved to the northern school, only to be bombed by the Israeli army there. Al-Awda Al-Nusseirat hospital receives 14 dead bodies, including 9 children. **Names of the martyrs:** 1. Misk Abdullah Abu Gharqoud (child) 2. Iyad Mahmoud Al-Sayed 3. Sohaib Iyad Al-Sayed (child) 4. Ahmad Nader Jabr 5. Mohammad Abdulaziz Jabr 6. Mohammad Hamdi Ramadan 7. Mohammad Ibrahim Mahmoud 8. Qasim Mohammad Ibrahim Mahmoud 9. Hanaa hamoud Al-Khalidi 10. Miral Hani Kamal Washah (child) 11. Jihad Mohammad Issa 12. Tala Ahmed Hussein 13. Nidaa Riad Abu Jabara 14. Ali Abdulhalim Al-Namrouti (child) 15. Adam Abdulhalim Al-Namrouti (child) 16. Wael Ihab Al-Jarba 17. Adel Fayed 18. Abdulbaset Izzat Nimr 19. Hala Ghazi Mohammad Ashour 20. Mahmoud Khamis Yusuf Jabr 21. Jouri Saeed Abu Hamisa 22. Tala Ahmad Yasin 23. Ibrahim Hassan Ahmad Al-Saoud 24. Yahya Basem Ibrahim Al-Nabahin 25. Malek Abul-Moneim Abu Gharqoud 26. Bisan Ali Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh 27. Amatullah Naser Mahmoud Nusa 28. Abdul-Raouf Al-Durra 29. Abdul-Raouf Al-Durra's fiancée

**On On Monday, 5 May 2025**, in the morning hours, Civil Administration personnel, escorted by Border Police officers and soldiers and equipped with an excavator and bulldozer, arrived in the community of Khirbet Khalet a-Dabe’ in the South Hebron Hills. The forces demolished ten homes, leaving 49 people, including 27 minors, without shelter. - Additionally, the forces demolished 11 sanitation structures, two kitchen structures, 11 water tanks, five water cisterns, three structures used as sheep pens (including a cave), a hospitality hall, an electricity room, a solar power network and water infrastructure. - The community was left with the school building and four residential homes that are still under legal proceedings. Families whose homes were demolished received tents from a humanitarian organization and remained in the community area. **Context:** Khirbet Khalet a-Dabe’ is one of the communities in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills, which Israel declared a “closed military zone” in the early 1980s, with the aim of seizing the area and expelling its residents. Since then, the state has prohibited the development of the communities—many of which predate the occupation of the West Bank—prevented their connection to water and electricity infrastructure, and repeatedly demolished their homes, any infrastructure they tried to build, and even the roads leading to the communities. In recent years, the communities have also suffered repeated settler attacks, often with army assistance, which also allows settlers to establish outposts within the declared “firing zone” adjacent to them. **Testimony of Mohammad_Hesham_Huraini** @MHureini "Today 5 May 2025 in just 2.5 hours Israeli occupation forces destroyed nearly the entire Palestinian village of Khalet Al-dabaa in the South Hebron Hills, part of my community Masafer Yatta. In the short window of 9:00 to 11:30 AM : - They demolished 9 homes, 6 caves, 10 water tanks, 4 animal barns, 11 toilet rooms, 7 water wells, 400 meters of agricultural fencing, the community center, the electricity room, all solar panels, internet systems, and security cameras. Only 2 or 3 houses remain standing. - Shrieks of horror can be heard as the sounds compete: the metallic noise of bending steal and crushed cement, as the people who have lived in this village for centuries are forced to look on without recourse, solution or consolation. - Families were uprooted and left with nothing: no shelter, no water, no power, no means to survive. This is not just demolition it is another deliberate act of ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta, unfolding in daylight and met with silence."

‘Al-Mughayyir (Arabic: المغيّر) is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 27 kilometers Northeast of Ramallah and 34 kilometers Southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank’. Al-Mughayyir is a Palestinian village with a population of approximately 4,500 residents as of 2024. (This is a different place than the close Bedouin village ethnically cleansed on May 22, 2025, with an estimated distance of approximately 10 to 15 kilometers separating them : The both villages have been subjected to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers, but these two communities are distinct in their demographics and specific circumstances) The village of al-Mughayyir, located northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, has been experiencing escalating violence and hardship, primarily due to intensified Israeli settler attacks and military actions, Particularly since the beginning of May 2025, when harassment and violence have been occurring on a daily basis. Al-Mughayyir has long been a flashpoint due to its proximity to unlawful Israeli settlements and outposts. The village's residents, primarily farmers and herders, have faced repeated land confiscations and restrictions. According to reports, 94.1% of al-Mughayyir's land is classified as Area C, under full Israeli control, limiting Palestinian development and access. The recent surge in violence has exacerbated the villagers' hardships, leading to loss of life, destruction of property, and heightened insecurity. Human rights organizations have condemned these attacks and called for international intervention to protect Palestinian civilians and hold perpetrators accountable. ### **2024 main incidents:** **On April 12, 2024**, approximately 500 Israeli settlers attacked al-Mughayyir following the disappearance and subsequent death of a 14-year-old Israeli settler. The assailants set homes, vehicles, and even a firetruck ablaze, and assaulted residents with stones and firearms. One resident, Jihad Abu Alia, was killed, and 25 others were injured. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli military forces present did not intervene to halt the violence. The following day, settlers returned, injuring three more villagers, one of them seriously. **On May 11, 2024:** Israeli settlers set fire to olive trees and agricultural crops in the village of Al-Mughayyir, north of Ramallah. ### **2025 main incidents** **On April 6:** Israeli settlers attacked farmer on the road, preventing him to accesss to his fields. **On May 2, 2025:** Israeli forces raided the village and opened fire at Palestinians residents. **On May 3, 2025:** - An Israeli settler came down the hill in the outskirts of the town with a flock of sheep and was joined by another settler with a baby not long after. Both entered the private land of Abu Amjd. - Later in the day, around 3:30 PM, just a few hours after settlers entered the private property of Abu Amjd, two young settlers arrived on an ATV, one of them armed. - The same day, armed Israeli settlers obstructed three Palestinian journalists and an activist while they were documenting ongoing Israeli attacks in the area. The local activist Rabee Abu Naeem was intercepted along with journalists Mohammad Turkman, Karim Khmayseh, and Ahmad Al-Khati by settlers who got out of an ATV and intercepted them while they were filming colonists dismantling tents nearby. The setlers tried to forcibly take the car keys and prevent them from leaving the area. They also attempted to seize the phone used for filming and issued death threats, warning them not to return. **On May 4, 2025:** In the central West Bank, Israeli paramilitary settlers set fire to agricultural rooms near Al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, on Sunday. According to Amin Abu Aliya, the head of the village council in al-Mughayyir, Israeli paramilitary settlers attacked the “Sahl Sa’i” area between the villages of al-Mughayyir and Abu Falah, and burned agricultural sheds and stables belonging to citizens from the neighboring village of Abu Falah and the town of Turmus Ayya. Abu Aliya stated that settlers are constantly attacking the farmland in the area, burning and vandalizing citizens’ lands and property, and that their attacks are escalating, especially after they recently established a colonial outpost in the area. **On May 6, 2025:** Dozens of extremist Israeli settlers stormed Al-Mughayyir. They set fields and homes on fire. None of them will be arrested **On May 9, 2025:** - Israeli forces arrested young man Suleiman Abu Aliya during a raid on the village of Al-Mughayyir. - Israeli settlers, accompanied by the soldiers, storm the residents' tents in the Al-Khalaya area of Al-Mughayyir village. **On May 10, 2025:** Israeli settlers, including several children and teenagers, invaded Palestinian properties with ATV and filmed women and activists with their phones. After forcing family, international observers away,soldiers,settlers advanced to front house. They acted with aggression, violence, threatening family with children, as well as those documenting incident.daily reality under military occupation. **On May 15, 2025** On Thursday, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and abducted a woman during an attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah. The violence began when settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, targeted the home of Rezeq Abu Naim. As residents attempted to defend the property, the boy was shot in the abdomen, and Fatima Abu Naim, a local resident, was taken by the military. The attackers also physically assaulted another Palestinian woman. Following the incident, larger groups of settlers gathered on a nearby hill, raising concerns about a wider assault.

On May 2, 2025, in the early hours of the night, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) reported that one of its ships, part of a convoy aiming to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, caught fire and issued a distress signal following an Israeli drone attack near the coast of Malta. - The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a coalition of nonviolent activists campaigning to end the Israeli siege on Gaza by organizing maritime missions to deliver aid, challenging the Israeli blockade. The ship, which set sail shortly before the attack, carried at least 16 people from several countries, including “prominent figures.” - The FFC said they organized the mission under a media blackout “to avoid any potential sabotage.” Such missions have historically been contentious and have led to confrontations in the past. - An Israeli drone struck, twice, the ship carrying humanitarian aid to the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip while it was in international waters near Malta. - The vessels is the 'CONSCIENCE' (IMO: 7211440), a Passenger Ship and is sailing under the flag of Palau. Her length overall (LOA) is 68.4 meters and her width is 10 meters. - The coalition claims the vessel was targeted by a drone, resulting in a fire onboard. "At 12:23 a.m. Maltese time, a ship from the Freedom Flotilla was attacked by a drone. The bow of the boat was hit twice," the NGO stated on the social network X. - According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which organized the mission, the attack appeared to deliberately target the ship’s generator, sparking a fire and causing a “substantial breach in the hull” that left the vessel in danger of sinking. - The ship's crew sent out an SOS, and rescue operations were initiated by Cyprus but ignored by Maltese officials. - The Maltese government stated that the vessel and its crew were rescued in the early hours of the morning after a nearby "unidentified" tug assisted with firefighting operations : *"Shortly after the strikes, an unidentified tugboat arrived but initially offered no assistance. Despite repeated requests from the Conscience crew to help fight the fire, the tugboat circled the burning ship for approximately an hour before finally activating its water hose. The fire took nearly two hours to extinguish. The tugboat repeatedly urged the crew to abandon the ship. However, doing so would have rendered the vessel, together with the humanitarian aid on board, vulnerable to seizure, further jeopardizing our ability to continue our effort to sail and break the siege of Gaza. This may have been the intended outcome."* - Four individuals aboard the Conscience sustained minor injuries from the May 2 attack on the ship, including burns and cuts. - During the night, there were no official statements from the governments of Malta, Israel, or other involved parties regarding the incident. **Blattant collaboration of Maltese authorities ** - The Maltese coast guard was reportedly aware of the situation, based on recordings of phone calls, but refused to intervene. When asked by the FFC if they would provide assistance, the coast guard allegedly hung up. - Despite repeated SOS distress calls, Malta denied the Conscience permission to enter territorial waters. - On May 3 and 4, Maltese armed forces intercepted boats carrying FFC volunteers attempting to assist the damaged ship, and forced them to return under threat of arrest. - On May 3 and 4, The coast guard and Maltese authorities also blocked other aid boats—including those carrying flotilla organizers such as Thiago Ávila—from reaching the Conscience. - Injured civilians remain aboard the Conscience, which is still drifting in international waters and remains vulnerable to further attack. Maltese authorities have not given any reason for refusing to allow the ship to dock in its ports nor for preventing volunteers from delivering support. - Malta offered no official justification for denying assistance or access. **Territorial Waters and Blockade** - The FFC reported that their vessels were prevented from entering Maltese territorial waters, despite being at risk of further drone attacks if they remained in open water overnight. - This refusal came despite international maritime norms requiring states to assist ships in distress or allow others to render assistance. **International and EU Reaction** - As of late saturday, no EU leaders had issued statements condemning the attack. - Neighboring states with capacity to assist the vessel did not intervene. - The silence of the European Union and nearby governments is being interpreted by many observers as tacit complicity or indifference, particularly in light of the flotilla’s humanitarian mission and the context of Israel’s blockade of Gaza. ### **Coalition "Freedom flotilla" statements** Freedom Flotilla Attacked — Ship in Distress, Immediate Action Needed from Maltese Government Featured, News, Press releases / By Jonatan Michaneck "MALTA / INTERNATIONAL WATERS — At 00:23 Maltese time, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship came under direct attack in international waters. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition had been organizing a nonviolent action under a media black out to avoid any potential sabotage. Volunteers from over 21 countries travelled to Malta to board the mission to Gaza, including prominent figures. On the morning of their scheduled departure, the vessel was attacked. Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull. The last communication in the early morning of the 2nd of May, indicated the drones are still circling the ship." "The ship, located in international waters just off the coast of Malta, issued an SOS distress signal immediately following the attack. A vessel from Southern Cyprus was dispatched but is not providing the critical electrical support needed. The drone strike appears to have deliberately targeted the ship’s generator, leaving the crew without power and placing the vessel at great risk of sinking." "On board are international human rights activists on a nonviolent humanitarian mission to challenge Israel’s illegal and deadly siege of Gaza, and to deliver desperately needed, life-saving aid. Since March 2, 2025 Israel has barred all aid trucks from entering Gaza, deliberately starving over two million civilians in full view of the international community. Humanitarian experts estimate the population in Gaza requires at least 600 aid trucks each day to meet even the most basic needs, yet not a single truck has been allowed in for two months." "The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome advised that a tugboat has been sent out and is on the scene. Our communications with the vessel were destroyed in the attack and we are unable to confirm this. Under international maritime law and conventions Malta is obliged to act and ensure the safety of a civilian ship in distress within its proximity. The lack of response and information about the rescue efforts breaches international customary law." "Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters." We demand that: - Malta immediately respond to its obligation and ensure the safety of all on board the vessel. - The international community condemns this aggression against an unarmed humanitarian aid vessel and demand the Maltese authorities immediately act. - All states end political, financial and military support for Israel’s illegal siege, blockade, occupation, and apartheid. - Civil society contact Maltese embassies and high commissions globally to ensure the safety of our humanitarians. For further information contact: Yasemin Acar – FFC Press Officer +49 151 62965117 Media@FreedomFlotilla.org International media contacts [contacts](https://freedomflotilla.org/media-contacts/)" ### **Responsability** - No claim of responsibility has been made by Israel - Channel 12 News confirmed at 8:34 (local hour) that it was Israeli drones that struck the ship. -CNN reported that an Israeli Air Force C-130 Hercules flew toward Malta hours before the attack on the Conscience. Flight-tracking data shows that the aircraft flew at low altitude over eastern Malta for an extended period before returning to Israel. The Israeli military has declined to comment. ### Evidences of Israeli Military Surveillance Before the Strike - Drop Site News has confirmed, based on flight and maritime tracking data, that an Israeli military aircraft—a Lockheed C-130 Hercules (Reg. 545)—circled directly around the Conscience, the humanitarian aid ship, several hours before it was struck by drones in international waters off the coast of Malta. - Using ADS-B flight data, the aircraft was tracked departing Israel on May 1 and flying at a low altitude (around 4,375 feet) over eastern Malta. It conducted multiple tight loops—including directly over Valletta’s harbor—which is considered highly irregular for a transit flight and suggests a surveillance or operational coordination mission. - During these maneuvers, the C-130 circled directly around the Conscience multiple times as the ship approached Malta at low speed. The aircraft remained in the area for several hours before returning to Israel. This proximity was not previously reported by CNN, which had only noted the plane’s presence 10 hours before the strike. - The attack on the Conscience occurred at approximately 00:23 local time on May 2, when drone-fired munitions reportedly targeted the ship’s generator, disabling it and leaving a large breach in the hull. The vessel was located 14–17 nautical miles off the Maltese coast, well within international waters. - A Maltese military source, speaking anonymously to the Times of Malta, described the flight as a violation of Malta’s neutrality, noting that the Israeli military flight was unauthorized over EU territory. - Israel has not commented on the strike as of this writing. ### **Context:** This attack occurred concurrently with a war against the Houthis in Yemen, which has been justified by some states as a mission to preserve freedom of navigation. The targeted ship was carrying humanitarian aid: While Israel has completely blocked all humanitarian aid—including food, water, medicine, and other basic necessities—from reaching the population of Gaza for over two months, effectively orchestrating starvation in what appears to be a genocidal policy. While the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is, since April 28, examining Israel's systematic attacks on humanitarian aid and workers in the Gaza Strip. Israel carried out the drone strike on the humanitarian vessel in international waters, a clear violation of international law. This incident is reminiscent of the 2010 attack on the Mavi Marmara, another vessel in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, where Israeli forces killed ten activists in international waters. Despite widespread international condemnation, accountability for that incident remains elusive. The lack of consequences may have emboldened further violations of international law. ### **International law violations** The Israeli drone attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla humanitarian vessel in international waters raises serious concerns under international law. Such an act may constitute a violation of multiple legal frameworks designed to protect humanitarian missions and ensure the freedom of navigation. *1. Violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS):* - Article 87: Guarantees the freedom of navigation on the high seas for all states, whether coastal or land-locked. Organisation des Nations Unies - Article 88: Stipulates that the high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes. - Article 89: Declares that no state may validly purport to subject any part of the high seas to its sovereignty. ➡ An unprovoked military attack on a civilian humanitarian vessel in international waters contravenes these provisions, undermining the principles of freedom of navigation and the peaceful use of the high seas. *2. Potential War Crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC):* - Article 8(2)(b)(iii): Defines as a war crime the intentional directing of attacks against personnel, installations, material, units, or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under international law. - Article 8(2)(b)(i): Prohibits intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities. ➡ If the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was indeed engaged in a humanitarian mission and was attacked without provocation, such an act could be classified as a war crime under these provisions. *3. United Nations Charter* - Article 2(4) of the UN Charter: "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." ➡ Unlawful use of force in international waters, especially against a non-combatant, non-state humanitarian mission, violates the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes and non-aggression. *4. Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols* - Protocol I (1977) Additional to the Geneva Conventions, Article 70(1): "Relief actions which are humanitarian and impartial in character and conducted without any adverse distinction shall be undertaken... subject to the agreement of the Parties concerned." - Article 71(2):"Authorized personnel participating in humanitarian relief actions shall be respected and protected." ➡ Targeting a humanitarian vessel constitutes a violation of protections granted under international humanitarian law to relief missions and personnel. *5. Customary International Law and the Laws of Peace* Under customary international law and the laws of neutrality, which apply in both war and peace: Attacks against neutral vessels—particularly those engaged in humanitarian aid—are prohibited unless they are actively taking part in hostilities or carrying contraband. ➡ A humanitarian vessel, carrying no weapons or military personnel, and operating in international waters, enjoys protected status. An attack violates both the laws of peace and neutrality. ### *Conclusion:* If the Israeli drone attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’s humanitarian ship in international waters is confirmed by an independant investigation, it would constitute a violation of multiple core pillars of international law: - UN Charter (Art. 2(4)) – Prohibition of force - Geneva Conventions (Protocol I, Arts. 70–71) – Protection of humanitarian missions - Rome Statute (Art. 8) – War crimes - UNCLOS (Arts. 87–89) – Freedom and peaceful use of the high seas - Customary international law – Neutrality and protection of humanitarian efforts ➡ Such an act would not only be illegal but could amount to a war crime prosecutable before the International Criminal Court (ICC). ### **Condemnations and call for investigation from experts** The shocking attacks on the Conscience has caused reactions from many academics and experts. Collected below are quotes from prominent figures commenting on the horrific attacks: - Dr Shahd Hammouri, University of Kent *‘We live in an time where ships carrying the most advanced weaponry in the world pass freely, and ships carrying urgent humanitarian aid to a starving population burn. ‘Israel is willing to bomb humanitarian ships to maintain its policy of starving the Palestinian people as a method of warfare.”* – Franscesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Territories, on X *"Emergency: I received a distressed call from the people of the Freedom Flotilla that is carrying essential food and medicine to the starving Gaza population. I call on concerned state authorities, including maritime authorities, to support the ship and its crew as needed. I trust the competent authorities will also ascertain the facts and intervene appropriately."* – Itamar Mann, Associate Professor at the University of Haifa *“Assuming, as appears to be the case, that the attack is attributable to Israel, it signals a clear violation of the right to life, as well as a war crime. It is only lucky that the measure has not claimed lives. The location of the attack in international waters proximate to Malta, requires urgent investigation and accountability. I expect maritime safety authorities too to reexamine their relations with Israel, due to the violation of the freedom of navigation, and the risk imposed upon the seafaring community in the Mediterranean.”.* – Lamis Deek, Attorney, PAL Law Commission *“This was an attack on Europe, on Malta, on unarmed civilians and the very idea of laws for peace- and this was not an accident- it was a warning shot and open threat against all people and States- a calculated sinister act of state terrorism. It is a violation of the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute, the Law of the Sea, and the laws of peace. Today’s attack proves that Israel sees every attempt to save Palestinian life from total annihilation as an existential threat to its genocidal project- and wage war against the whole world to preserve it.* *We call on every State, every union of States, every people and every principled institution globally to rise and condemn this act and to support the rebuilding and sailing of the Flotilla at the earliest time possible. We demand that Europe, the African Union, ASEAN, Latin American States, and the Arab world assert their sovereignty- and humanity- by refusing to be intimidated into silence and complicity with lawlessness. We demand a full international investigation under the auspices of the United Nations. We demand that Malta and all coastal States take immediate protective measures. And, we call on all States to invoke universal jurisdiction, to enact arms embargoes, suspend treaties, and stop their diplomatic cover and complicity with this barbaric and rogue regime. Otherwise the bloodshed will not stop in Gaza; and it will not stop with the Flotilla. Either Israel is stopped- or the whole world will bleed at the altar of Israeli genocidal fascism.”*