Turkey and Spain condemn Israel's intervention against Gaza aid flotilla

Washington (ANTARA) - Turkey’s and Spain’s foreign ministers held a telephone conversation on Thursday (30/4) and stressed the need for an international stance against Israel’s illegal intervention in the aid flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

“In that conversation, it was emphasised that the illegal intervention by Israeli forces against the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was sailing in international waters off Crete, endangers the lives of many civilians of various nationalities and violates international law,” wrote spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry Oncu Keceli on platform X.

He said the conversation between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also emphasised the need for the international community to adopt a common stance against the intervention.

The Israeli navy intercepted ships from the flotilla on Wednesday night as they headed to Gaza to try to break the long-standing blockade imposed on the Palestinian enclave.

The group stated that Israeli forces surrounded the convoy in international waters near the island of Crete, disrupted communications, and seized several ships.

The flotilla was carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza and aimed to break the Israeli blockade and open a humanitarian corridor by sea.

The action occurred hours after Hebrew-language media reported that Israel was preparing to intercept the flotilla, consisting of around 100 ships carrying nearly 1,000 activists from various countries.

Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, which has caused around 1.5 million Palestinians to lose their homes out of a total population of about 2.4 million.