Gaza aid flotilla vows to pursue Israel at ICC over drone assaults

RABAT, Morocco/ISTANBUL

The Global Sumud Flotilla announced Wednesday that its legal team will take Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after repeated drone assaults on its vessels bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Abdelhaq Benqadi, a Moroccan lawyer representing the Arab Lawyers Union aboard the mission, said the team is compiling evidence of “war crimes at sea,” including the types and numbers of drones used, electronic jamming, the munitions deployed, and the resulting damage.

He noted that a comprehensive report will be submitted to The Hague.

Organizers earlier reported 12 blasts hitting nine ships in international waters after drones repeatedly targeted the flotilla. While the group did not attribute responsibility, Israel – which has threatened to block the mission from reaching Gaza – has not commented.

“This is a full-fledged war crime, and the ICC must act,” Benqadi wrote in a post on the US social media company Facebook.

Israel has a record of intercepting aid vessels bound for Gaza, seizing ships and deporting activists in actions widely condemned as piracy.

The case comes as Israel already faces mounting legal scrutiny. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is hearing South Africa’s genocide case over Gaza, where more than 65,400 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in a brutal offensive since October 2023.

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The current flotilla, carrying humanitarian supplies including medical aid, is among the largest ever to sail for Gaza, with nearly 50 ships attempting to break Israel’s 18-year blockade on the enclave’s 2.4 million residents.