Spain and Italy have announced they are dispatching naval warships to assist in breaking Israel’s legal, and life saving blockade around the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip. Specifically, the countries have announced their navies will escort and protect the “humanitarian flotilla” which includes Greta Thunberg, in its supposed mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Nonetheless, these European countries and NATO allies have actually (even if unintentionally) committed their navies to a dangerous act of war against Israel, a legal “casus belli,” (an act permitting a military response) and an overt act of military cooperation with the Hamas terror organization.

Photo: Spanish President Pedro Sánchez via Wikimedia Commons and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni via Wikimedia Commons.

Israel is not only permitted, but required to stop all attempts to break the Gaza blockade.

As we have previously explored in depth, Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip is both legal and also an essential life saving barrier against Hamas’s access to weapons. International law requires that Israel enforce its blockade universally and without exception, and for good reason: in the past, at least one “humanitarian flotilla” was found to be carrying large quantities of weapons to supply the Hamas terror organization.

Israel is not only permitted, but required to stop the flotilla in international waters.

A common misconception is that international law provides total impunity for any act as long as it’s done in international waters. Anyone who follows the history of naval battles (which are almost always on the “high seas”) knows this is incorrect.

This is basic common sense: if a country couldn’t strike an invading navy until the warships reached its shores, then international law would have effectively outlawed self defense.

Indeed, according to Section 10 of the San Remo Convention, even being en route to commit an act of war (such as breaching a legal blockade) opens the invading vessel to legitimate attack, which is considered self defense.

Photo: Spanish naval warship. By: U.S. Navy via picryl.

There is already a widely used method for safely and legally delivering humanitarian aid.

Israel has, and continues to deliver record amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza, far more than most countries have ever delivered in any modern conflict, especially into enemy territory. (We explored this topic in detail, in partnership with Ambassador Michael Oren’s publication, “Clarity.”) Not coincidentally, according to independent data, Gaza has one of the fastest growing populations in the world, a fact inconsistent with claims of depravation. The current methods for delivering aid include life saving inspections for weapons, which would not occur if a flotilla were to successfully breach the blockade.

This could result in serious violence.

For now, one can only hope that some sort of diplomatic process will prevent the Spanish and Italian warships from approaching Israel’s shores. However, if that fails, Israel will be obligated under both international law and basic morality to physically stop the approach of both the flotilla and its accompanying warships. While a civilian ship can usually be disabled and boarded without damage, stopping a warship may require an actual, kinetic naval battle.

It’s not Gaza, it’s Hamas.

A widely ignored report by Israel’s Diaspora and Antisemitism Ministry indicates that this particular “humanitarian flotilla” was organized by fronts for the Hamas terror organization and the Muslim Brotherhood, and that Hamas affiliates are on board. If true, Spain and Italy are not only engaging in an act of war against Israel, but they may even be providing direct military support to Hamas.

It should go without saying, but it (tragically) needs to be repeated: October 7, 2023 was the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Modeled on Muhammad’s 7th century “Khaybar Massacre,” the October 7 atrocities included mass rape, ritual beheadings, horrific torture and more. Now, over 700 days later, the internationally designated Hamas terror organization continues to hold Israelis hostage, under horrifying conditions.

To give the benefit of the doubt, it is possible that Spain and Italy are actually naive enough to believe they are on a humanitarian mission. Yet if their warships leave port, the countries will (knowingly or not) become the first Western powers and NATO allies to provide direct, military combat support to the perpetrators of the October 7 massacre. Spain and Italy will also become the first European powers since the Holocaust to engage in what is effectively a military attack on the Jewish people.

The only way this ends well is if Italy and Spain come to their senses, and reverse their misguided decision before leaving port.