Well the aid isn’t being blocked.
The flotilla also didn’t agree to stop and search, but had to be boarded and commandeered.
The flotilla could have sailed to Ashdod port and unload their aid there for further delivery on land.
Blockade running is serious business. Can’t let civilians simply sail straight into a combat zone in a foreign country either.
Pretty ludicrous to expect that.
The amount of aid getting into Gaza is constantly increasing and at more than 50 trucks per day. The whole supposed aid flotilla didn’t even bring a full truck of aid. It’s a political stunt, not about actually delivering aid effectively.
I literally cited that high seas are okay if the course of the ship is clearly intending to breach the blockade.
Read the whole linked paper and you will see that detaining ship, cargo, and crew is legal if they refuse to turn around.
You might not be aware, but Israel has been allowing in aid for a while now. There is no total blockade.
Look up definition of merchant ship. Sure you might qualify them as a pleasure ship instead.
Watch the linked videos.
Pretty good analysis, but focuses too much on oil. It will be a mix of Israeli air strikes and special operations in one direction and long range missiles, drones, and proxy forces in the other.
Israel‘s ability to defend against Iranian drones and missiles was very good last time around. Jordan shoots down anything Iranian in their airspace they can, supporting Israel‘s defense in effect.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey
And most other countries in the region are very happy Israel fights Iran‘s ability to build nuclear weapons. That way they can keep their hand clean.
If Iran gets nukes, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and others would want nukes very urgently as well.
The Saudis especially are glad Israel degraded Iran‘s proxy forces in the region. Even the new Syrian government owes its success in part to Israel clapping Hezbollah hard.
The only ones mad at Israel in this case are the ones who hate Israel‘s existence and everything they do out of principle.
Watch this to get a better idea who Hasan is and what he thinks and does.
He is very entertaining, but otherwise a political extremist narcissist of the worst kind.
Israel doesn’t say unprovoked.
Iranian revolutionary guard generals are not innocent and actually quite good at oppression.
They don’t need to publish proof according to international law and it’s uncommon for any country to provide that. Operational security usually precludes that anyway. Proof and such come into play in a trial or Knesset parliamentary inquiry. Both of which have brought clarity in the past on Israeli action.
Proportionality assessment is done by IDF officers and lawyers. They want their asses covered, because war crimes are also crimes under Israeli law and they want to continue traveling abroad. Proportionality is always judged by if the action is conducive to reach the military objective, while at the same time minimizing civilian casualties and damages. Zero civilian casualties is not required according to international humanitarian law.
Anything Israel does is immediately labeled a war crime by some parties, regardless of what’s actually going on.
It’d be the same war crime if they blew up a stadium full of people to kill one man.
That would only be proportional under special circumstances, like if that man was extremely important, time was critical, and there was no other feasible way to target and get him. If that one man is a combatant and legitimate military target, he is also committing a war crime by hiding among civilians using them as human shields.
So in the case of man in a stadium it would have to be literally Hitler about to launch another world war to justify blowing up the whole building. You can only get him there, because he‘s in the bunker connected to the stadium at all other times. In that case the stadium would also be filled with high ranking officers and party officials, but you said only one man. If you have a precision guided missile able to blow up only the VIP lodge, that would change the proportionality assessment of course. Proportionality depends on the objective.
Israel‘s attacks on the apartment buildings only took out specific apartments, not destroy the whole building. This can be seen on footage from Iranian tv.
So no, it’s not the same war crime, if it’s even a war crime.
Israel offers the option to deliver aid through its ports (Ashdod) and then land route. Exactly the place where the flotilla was brought to and their aid then continued on land by truck to Gaza.
They were given plenty of warnings and chances to leave the area.
A belligerent warship sailing on the high seas had the right to visit and search all merchant vessels
A belligerent warship sailing on the high seas had the right to visit and search all merchant vessels
Israel‘s Navy is the belligerent warship. Flotilla is the merchant.
Page 898
Outside the blockade area and on the high seas,34 belligerents relied on the practice of "visit and search"3s to stop vessels suspected of carrying “con-traband” to the enemy.36 A belligerent warship sailing on the high seas had the right to visit and search all merchant vessels. Merchants found carrying enemy contraband were captured and escorted to the belligerent’s nearest home port. The belligerent nation’s prize court then determined the fate of the captured ship and cargo.37 In cases where merchants resisted either capture or visit and search, the blockading force was entitled to pursue and, if neces-sary, damage or destroy the vessel to force the ship to submit.
Page 901
belligerents today continue to enforce blockades from long distance or through blockade zones. They do so because of three twentieth-century developments in maritime warfare: first, the growing importance to belligerents of conducting economic warfare in conjunction with armed con-flict;s3 second, the introduction of a large array of new weapons to the maritime battlefield; and third, the proliferation of modern weapons to less powerful nations incapable of conducting traditional blockade. In combination, these three developments have forced states to replace traditional blockade form with long-distance blockade or blockade zones.
You don’t need to actually rob someone for the police to arrest you, if you loudly proclaim your intent and don’t stop.
Confiscating ship and cargo, and holding the crew is perfectly legal under international maritime law for blockade runners.
Israel said the tiny amount of aid the flotilla brought would be delivered on to Gaza.
Just like police can arrest you before you commit a crime, if you loudly and repeatedly proclaim the intention to commit it.
They were asked repeatedly to change course and refused.
Boarding, capturing the ship, confiscating cargo, and holding crew is exactly what international maritime law says is legal and customary in such situations like a blockade.
Of course the occupying power can and has to do this according to international humanitarian law.
Page 898
Outside the blockade area and on the high seas,34 belligerents relied on the practice of "visit and search"3s to stop vessels suspected of carrying “con-traband” to the enemy.36 A belligerent warship sailing on the high seas had the right to visit and search all merchant vessels. Merchants found carrying enemy contraband were captured and escorted to the belligerent’s nearest home port. The belligerent nation’s prize court then determined the fate of the captured ship and cargo.37 In cases where merchants resisted either capture or visit and search, the blockading force was entitled to pursue and, if neces-sary, damage or destroy the vessel to force the ship to submit.
Page 901
belligerents today continue to enforce blockades from long distance or through blockade zones. They do so because of three twentieth-century developments in maritime warfare: first, the growing importance to belligerents of conducting economic warfare in conjunction with armed con-flict;s3 second, the introduction of a large array of new weapons to the maritime battlefield; and third, the proliferation of modern weapons to less powerful nations incapable of conducting traditional blockade. In combination, these three developments have forced states to replace traditional blockade form with long-distance blockade or blockade zones.
There’s literal drone footage video you can watch to see what happened.
Heroyam Slava!