The National Lawyers Guild calls on all countries to meet their obligations to end the genocide on the Palestinian people, and stop all actions that make them complicit in genocide. No goods of any kind have entered Gaza in over eight weeks; medicine and basic first aid supplies are scarce, markets are empty, prices have skyrocketed, and aid distribution centers have completely run out of warehoused resources. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are starving and without clean water. Meanwhile over 3,000 trucks full of food and essentials are sitting at the Egyptian border with Gaza. Using food as a weapon is a flagrant violation of international law and a war crime.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is a civilian initiative that represents global civil society’s solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people. They are fulfilling an international legal and moral duty, to stop the genocide by breaking a deadly blockade currently causing mass starvation in Gaza, in the face of the utter failure of international institutions and governments to take the necessary action to bring the Israeli genocide, blockade, and deliberate starvation policy to an end.
At around 00:24 local Maltese time on May 2, 2025, two drones, presumed to be Israeli, were launched in an attack on the “Conscience” ship, part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, as it sailed in international waters off the coast of Malta.
The Flotilla had set sail to break the siege on Gaza and deliver much needed aid to the Palestinian population that is being purposefully starved by the Israeli Occupation. There were 12 crew members and 6 civilians on the vessel at the time of the attack. Those on the vessel immediately issued an SOS distress signal to which Cyprus was the first to respond, but which could not provide the needed assistance. It has been reported that all those on the ship are now safe, but still with the damaged vessel at sea.
According to CNN, an Israeli Air Force C-130 Hercules, a plane produced by the United States, was seen through a flight tracking website, ADS-B Exchange, leaving Occupied Palestine (Israel) early on Thursday afternoon flying at a low altitude over Malta for an extended period of time. The plane never landed at a Maltese airport, and returned to Occupied Palestine (Israel) seven hours later.
This attack reminds us of the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of the 2010 Freedom Flotilla, in which occupation soldiers killed ten people on board. This most recent attack occurred in international waters in violation of both International and Maritime law.
The FFC’s demands are: an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire; unrestricted access to humanitarian aid; and an end to the illegal Israeli blockade. This attack on the Freedom Flotilla vessel is yet another tactic being used to complete the genocide of the Palestinian people by guaranteeing they have no access to life saving humanitarian aid.
We are also concerned that the Freedom Flotilla is at risk of renewed attacks. It’s imperative that Malta and all states in the region honor its obligations under Article 98 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), all States are under an affirmative obligation to “render assistance to any person or ship in danger or distress at sea, without delay.” It’s also imperative that these states fulfill their international legal obligations to prevent and not be complicit in genocide.
The National Lawyers Guild will always stand with direct action by civil society, in particular when the international community and international law are impotent in the face of genocide.
