Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday, the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez in Spain announced that it would dispatch a rescue ship to be in the vicinity of the 50 ships that make up the Sumud (steadfastness) flotilla aiming to provide humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip. It joins Italy in this endeavor. This according to Carlos E. Cué and Miguel González at El Pais.
The Sumud has come under repeated Israeli drone fire. On Wednesday, Israeli drones dropped explosives in the vicinity of the ships moored off the island of Crete, but caused no damage or injuries.
Prime Minister Sánchez said from the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, “The government of Spain requires that international law be observed and that the right of our citizens to navigate the Mediterranean in conditions of security be respected. For this reason, tomorrow a Maritime Action vessel will depart [the base in Cartagena] with all the means of assisting the flotilla or of carrying out any rescue, if necessary.”
Israel has routinely violated the law of the seas by attacking ships in international waters. Spanish citizens are taking part in the Sumud flotilla, and Spain is saying they have the right to do so.
Some 82% of Spaniards categorize what Israel is doing in Gaza as a genocide, a massive proportion that demonstrates that Israel’s actions are condemned by large numbers of people on both the left and the right. But note that 85% of centrists and 97% of Spaniards on the left view the Gaza campaign as genocidal.
The Maritime Action ship is not intended to shoot down attacking Israeli drones or to defend the Sumud ships from being boarded by the Israeli military. It will, however, rescue any passengers that end up in the sea because of Israeli actions.
It should be underlined, however, that it is entirely possible that the Maritime Action vessel will come under Israeli fire, which would spark an enormous diplomatic and military crisis.
Spain and Italy are both NATO members, and Article 5 says that “an attack on one is an attack on all.” NATO invoked this principle after the September 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on New York City and Washington, D. C., which is why there were NATO troops in Afghanistan but not in Iraq, which the rest of NATO did not view as a belligerent.
Thus, if Israel attacks the Spanish escort ship, it could stir up a strong European reaction, and would put the Trump administration on the spot, since Trump will side with Israel against NATO.
“Maritime Aid,” Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3, 2025.
Spain’s maritime action vessels can accommodate 80 passengers. They are also armed with a 76-millimeter gun, two machine guns, and a surveillance drone of their own. This one will have a crew of 50 and 8 medical staff.
Sanchez’s government reached out to Italy for coordination, and sought to add another country to the escort, such as Ireland.
For her part, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, from a far right party, faced a national strike involving 500,000 people on Monday over her refusal to recognize a Palestinian state alongside France and Britain. She said Tuesday that she’d recognize Palestine if Hamas releases Israeli hostages and if the organization is excluded from any Palestinian government going forward. This position was the one taken by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer until Sunday, when he folded before the weight of sentiment among his back-benchers.
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