Middle East: Spain, Italy send navy ships to Gaza flotilla
Spain is joining Italy in sending a navy ship to help an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, after activists said they were targeted by Israeli drones. Israel accuses them of being complicit with Hamas.
Spain has said it will send a warship to protect a Gaza aid flotilla attempting to break the Israeli blockade of the territory.
The move comes a day after Italy deployed a naval vessel for potential rescue operations, after activists on board the flotilla said they had been targeted by Israeli drones.
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Italy's Defence Ministry said that just one navy ship will be sent to protect the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) that is headed for Gaza.
On Wednesday, the ministry dispatched the "Fasan" warship after the GSF international aid convoy reported being targeted by drones as it made its way from Greece towards the Gaza coast.
Earlier on Thursday, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto had said that the "Alpino" would be sent to the same area that the Fasan had been deployed.
The flotilla also reported being targeted by Israel during a recent stop in Tunisia (Photo: Mohamed Mdalla/Anadolu/IMAGO via DW)
But he later clarified that the Alpino would be replacing the Fasan rather than joining it. Crosetto also added that neither frigate would have any escort duties.
The minister, who belongs to the right-wing populist Brothers of Italy party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, called on the activists on board the flotilla not to try and breach Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since 2007.
"Exposing human lives to risks in waters where it would not be possible to intervene with rescue would make no sense and would entail unnecessary dangers," Crosetto said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has delivered an address to the UN General Assembly via pre-recorded video, after he and other members of the delegation were denied entry visas into the United States.
We will also be following developments on the ground in Gaza, where at least 17 people were killed on Thursday amid Israel's ongoing military campaign.
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