The National Lawyers Guild condemns the attack on the UK flagged Handala ship by the Israeli Occupying Army in international waters. The Handala is part of the Freedom Flotilla, a civilian initiative that represents global civil society’s solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people. 

The Freedom Flotilla is 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. 

21 civilians representing 10 countries were on board and have been kidnapped by the Israeli Army, including 19 human rights defenders and two journalists. They were unlawfully kidnapped from international waters while carrying out an international mission to Gaza. We demand their immediate release and the immediate provision of food and aid to the Palestinian people of Gaza, who are being subjected to forced starvation as part and parcel of the ongoing Israeli genocide. To this end, we demand an end to the unlawful blockade of Gaza and the opening of the land crossings to enter the thousands of tons of aid awaiting admission for distribution by the United Nations and recognized international and Palestinian aid mechanisms.

The National Lawyers Guild stands in solidarity with the brave participants of this mission, including NLG member Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement and Free Gaza Movement, a civil rights attorney in Michigan, and a global leader in the movement for human rights for Palestinians.As the Handala sailed closer to Gaza’s shore the Israeli Army contacted the crew communicating  lies about their mission, Huwaida Arraf’s strong response was: 

“Let me give you a lesson in international human rights law.”

“Any blockade that deliberately starves a civilian population is a violation of international law. It is not only that – it is a war crime. You have no legal authority to enforce an unlawful blockade. And as such, you have no authority to use force to enforce an unlawful blockade.

“Therefore, we demand that you stand down. You are responsible for the wellbeing of every civilian on board this vessel. As an occupying power in Gaza, you are responsible for the health and wellbeing of the civilian population there.

“Not only have you disregarded that obligation, but you are actively exterminating the people. You have engineered a famine. You are deliberately starving civilians and children before the eyes of the world.

“Our vessel does not constitute any threat to you. We carry only humanitarian aid, and therefore, you have no authority to intercept or otherwise attack our vessel. We demand again that you stand down.” 

This is the third violent attack on the Freedom Flotilla in as many months. In May, the “Conscience” flotilla ship was bombed by a drone, presumably by Israel, before it could set sail to Gaza. In June, the “Madleen” flotilla ship was similarly subjected to piracy and hijacking in international waters, and its international participants unlawfully detained by the Israeli occupation. Now, in a repeat of the June attack – even as the imposed starvation in Gaza has considerably worsened, with 67 Palestinians killed by malnutrition in July 2025 alone – the Israeli occupation forces once again hijacked the “Handala” in international waters in order to enforce its illegal blockade on Gaza.

The attack on the “Handala” violates not only the outstanding orders of the International Court of Justice in South Africa v. Israel, but also Article 92 of UNCLOS, Articles 23 and 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and peremptory norms of international law.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, has described the situation in Gaza as “horrific”, saying that such levels of starvation have not been witnessed in modern history. 

In a Democracy Now interview, Fakhri added, 

The International Court of Justice outlined Israel’s duties in its decisions over the last year. So, what Israel has an obligation to do is, first, end its illegal occupation immediately. This came from the court itself. Second, it must allow humanitarian relief to enter with no restrictions. And this hasn’t been happening. So, usually, we would turn to the Security Council to authorize peacekeepers or something similar to assist. But predictably, again, the United States keeps vetoing anything to do with a ceasefire. When the Security Council is in a deadlock because of a veto, the General Assembly, the United Nations General Assembly, has the authority to call for peacekeepers to accompany humanitarian convoys to enter into Gaza and to end Israel’s starvation campaign against the Palestinian people.

The United States is not only participating in the genocide by supplying Israel with weaponry, intelligence, and diplomatic cover, it is also directly involved in creating and engineering starvation in Gaza. The so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” a joint U.S.-Israeli project, has created “death traps” throughout the Gaza Strip at which nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been massacred. U.S. mercenaries employed at these sites have repeatedly opened fire on aid-seeking Palestinians alongside the Israeli occupation army. Rather than providing aid to starving civilians, it aims to facilitate the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and instrumentalize siege and blockade. At the same time, the United Nations and other legitimate aid distribution mechanisms are being blocked from receiving or distributing aid due to the Israeli blockade.

As we demand the immediate and unconditional release of the journalists and human rights defenders illegally detained from the “Handala,” we emphasize the urgency of international action to break the blockade, end the siege and lift the imposed starvation of the Gaza Strip. 

We call upon all states to immediately impose a full two-way arms embargo on Israel, to close Israeli embassies and withdraw their ambassadors from Israel, and to immediately carry out all forms of pressure to open the land crossings to enter thousands of trucks waiting for access to Gaza. We further call upon all states to sponsor and support boats and ships traveling to Gaza to break Israel’s illegal blockade; Palestinians in Gaza have the absolute right to receive boats in their territorial waters. Israel has entirely ignored the binding orders of the International Court of Justice in South Africa v. Israel – under which the “Handala” was operating –  to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and cease all activities leading to genocide: first and foremost, requiring a ceasefire. 

Further, we demand the United States immediately cease its ongoing complicity and direct involvement in the Israeli genocide, close the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, restore funding to UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, and end all aid and support to the genocidal Israeli state.

Lacking any belief in the political will of the U.S. government or Congress to stop the genocide, we urge the U.S. legal community to escalate all actions to hold accountable Israeli and U.S. corporations and individuals directly involved in the genocide, to pursue the prosecution of U.S.-based “charities” and nonprofit organizations that continue to fundraise for the Israeli military, the perpetrators of genocide; and to defend activists and human rights defenders targeted for their opposition to genocide. 

National Lawyers Guild International Committee