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Short answer
If you claim Israel’s naval blockade is illegal, get your facts straight.
Israel and Hamas are in an armed conflict, and the law of armed conflict permits Israel to control maritime access to Gaza, even on the high seas. The UN’s own Palmer Report found the blockade a lawful security measure under international law. Israel meets all San Remo Manual conditions: it declared the blockade in 2009, issues public notices, inspects cargo, and ensures humanitarian supplies flow through approved crossings.
After Hamas’s October 7 massacre, the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, the blockade’s purpose is clearer than ever: to stop weapons from reaching a terror group bent on repeating it. And those “aid flotillas”? They’re not humanitarian missions but theater. An alliance of Islamist propaganda and Western performative activism.
Long answer
News flash: Israel and Hamas are in an armed conflict, not just since the barbaric October 7 massacre, but for nearly two decades since Hamas violently seized Gaza and began firing rockets at Israeli civilians. Under the law of armed conflict, Israel is permitted to control maritime access to Gaza, even on the high seas. This principle is rooted in centuries of naval law and reaffirmed by the 1994 San Remo Manual, which sets conditions for a lawful blockade: public notice, effectiveness, impartiality, humanitarian access, and a ban on starving civilians.
Israel declared its naval blockade in January 2009 as a lawful security measure. Its goal is simple: to stop weapons, ammunition, and dual-use materials, like cement, from reaching Hamas. And it’s necessary. Hamas and its allies have repeatedly tried to smuggle weapons disguised as civilian cargo: the Karine A (2002), Francop (2009), Mavi Marmara (2010), Victoria (2011), and Klos C (2014) were all caught carrying arms, not aid.
The October 7, 2023 massacre, in which Hamas used rockets, weapons, and tunnels to launch the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, underscored why the blockade remains vital. It prevents even more advanced weaponry from reaching Gaza’s terrorist factions.
Israel meets all six San Remo conditions for a lawful blockade:
- Public notice: Declared in 2009 with ongoing maritime warnings.
- Effective enforcement: Continuous naval presence off Gaza’s coast.
- No obstruction of unrelated states: Applies only to Gaza’s coastline.
- Impartiality: Enforced on all vessels regardless of flag or origin.
- Humanitarian access: Aid flows through inspected land and sea routes.
- No starvation of civilians: Israel allows massive aid deliveries. For example, during the week of Sept 25, while the “Global Sumud” flotilla staged its PR stunt, Israel facilitated 736 aid trucks carrying 14,125 tons of supplies, 86% of it food. This reality exposes Hamas’s so-called “famine campaign” for what it is, a deliberate propaganda effort to manufacture the image of mass starvation while the terrorist group hoards and diverts aid for its fighters.
Israel’s naval blockade isn’t collective punishment. It’s a lawful, necessity-based security measure grounded in international law, designed to protect civilians while preventing Hamas from rearming.
And the so-called “aid flotillas”? They’re not humanitarian missions but theater. An alliance of Islamist propaganda and Western performative activism.
