October 9, 2025 – Union for Justice Foundation
In support of Gaza — its land and people — a global coalition of ships was formed, comprising activists from various countries, under the name “The Global Resilience Fleet.” The idea was conceived in mid-July 2025, and around 50 ships from several nations, including Spain, Italy, Greece, and Tunisia, set sail toward the Gaza Strip. This marks the first and largest maritime effort to break the blockade on Gaza since 2008.
The fleet came under multiple attacks as it neared Gaza’s shores and even within international waters. Israeli occupation forces stormed the ships, assaulting passengers and detaining them in inhumane conditions and in gross violation of international law, all under the eyes of the world and surveillance cameras.
The approximately 50 ships carried 530 volunteers from 47 countries, including notable figures such as Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, and several European parliamentarians and legislators — individuals who, under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, are entitled to international legal immunity.
As the fleet approached Gaza’s territorial waters, Israeli occupation forces intercepted the vessels in international waters, forcibly boarding them, assaulting passengers, and detaining them in unknown locations under degrading conditions. More than 443 volunteers were transferred to the Ashdod Port, where they were held unlawfully, in clear violation of both the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees freedom of navigation, and the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers.
According to follow-up reports by the Union for Justice Foundation, Australian diplomatic sources revealed the difficult conditions faced by the detainees held in Israel’s Negev Prison. The Guardian quoted officials from the Australian Embassy, stating that “Israel deprived detainees of medicine, food, and water, and they were denied sleep and access to restrooms.”
The newspaper also reported that “Australian detainees were subjected to physical assault and forced to kneel in chains for more than five hours, in addition to being initially denied contact with lawyers.”
Following international legal and political efforts, most of the fleet members were later released. The Global Resilience Fleet announced that its legal team will prosecute Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for repeated drone attacks on its vessels heading to the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Union for Justice Foundation, in collaboration with the fleet’s legal team, announced the commencement of legal proceedings before the ICC to hold Israeli officials accountable for war crimes committed at sea, particularly after nine ships of the fleet were struck by twelve explosions resulting from drone attacks in international waters.
Abdelhaq Benqadi, a Moroccan lawyer representing the Arab Lawyers Union aboard the mission, confirmed that the legal team is collecting detailed evidence on the types of ammunition and drones used, their physical impact on the vessels, and electronic jamming that disabled communication and navigation systems — acts that constitute a violation of the principles of distinction and proportionality in the use of force under international humanitarian law.
According to the Union for Justice’s legal team, what occurred constitutes a complete war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute, given that civilians and volunteers on a humanitarian mission in international waters were deliberately targeted. Israel, the report notes, has a long record of intercepting aid vessels, seizing them, and deporting activists — acts previously described as maritime piracy and violations of the freedom of international navigation.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state’s sovereignty does not extend beyond 12 nautical miles from its coast and that it may exercise limited authority up to 24 nautical miles only for security, customs, or health-related purposes. However, Israeli forces began their interception 70 nautical miles (130 km) off the Gaza coast — a clear violation of the freedom of navigation on the high seas guaranteed by Article 87 of the convention.
This incident occurs amid increasing international legal scrutiny of Israeli violations, particularly in light of the genocide case before the International Court of Justice, brought by South Africa against Israel. Since October 2023, the Israeli assault has killed over 65,400 people, the majority women and children, in what has been described as a widespread attack against civilians.
The attack on the Global Resilience Fleet constitutes a flagrant violation of several fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and humanity, as well as a breach of freedom of navigation and state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts.
This underscores the urgent need to activate international accountability mechanisms, whether before the International Criminal Court or through the UN Human Rights Council, to ensure that perpetrators of these violations do not go unpunished — and to safeguard the legitimate humanitarian right to deliver aid to civilians in Gaza, in accordance with international law and the purposes of the United Nations.
