A panel titled “International Gaza Rescue Campaign” was organized in Istanbul by the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition with the participation of representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from several countries on Thursday.
The panel underlined that the genocide in Gaza must be halted as soon as possible, while humanitarian aid has to be sent to the area.
A lawyer, Gülden Sönmez, noted that Israel has been committing genocide, a crime according to international law, manifested with evidence. Sönmez said that the blockade on Gaza is being carried out as a means to punish a whole society, therefore similarly constituting a genocide crime.
Sönmez reminded that international law, especially the Geneva Convention and Rome Statute, put responsibilities on states and that with such blockades, all countries member to the United Nations have an obligation to bring humanitarian aid to the area while neighboring countries have to facilitate the transfer.
“Whether it's medical aid, food aid, clean water needs... Whether by ship, by sea or by land, whatever means we have, international law is behind us all,” Sönmez added.
On the other side, Beheşti İsmail Songür, head of the Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association, said that they came together with the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition, of which they are a member, in order to coordinate the idea of a new fleet for Gaza.
“The main idea of the freedom flotilla is as such: it aims to work to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza and to lift the embargo and blockade on the strip. Within this scope, we have gathered with friends from across the world to launch our campaign for a new freedom flotilla,” Songür elaborated.
“With the donations and support collected within the scope of this campaign, it will become clearer how the new flotilla will set off. We are currently talking about thousands of tons of materials planned to be sent to the region. For this, we need ships of large size and great mobility,” he added.
Songür also said that he expected the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), which led the Mavi Marmara ship in 2012, to take part in the flotilla but that they have not received an answer from the foundation yet.
In May 2010, Israeli commandoes killed 10 Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla, which was headed for Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid.
In the aftermath of the attack, Türkiye demanded an official apology from Israel, compensation for the families of those killed and the lifting of Israel's Gaza blockade.
In 2013, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret over the incident to Türkiye's then-Prime Minister and now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In addition to the compensation, Israel agreed to Türkiye's humanitarian presence in the occupied Gaza Strip.
Songür added further that the number of buildings destroyed in Gaza was 3.5 times greater than the number of buildings collapsed during the February twin earthquakes in Türkiye.
“We are talking about huge destruction and genocide,” he said. Therefore, a small fleet is not enough. But the permanent delivery of humanitarian aid to the region, the lifting of the naval blockade in Gaza and the permanent opening of the Rafah Gate, Gaza's only gate to the world, where both humanitarian aid and commercial supplies can be delivered to Egypt, is needed," Söngür emphasized.
