Israel seized a Gaza-bound boat with Greta Thunberg on board. Can it do that?
JERUSALEM: Israeli naval forces, far from the country's shores, intercepted and seized a Gaza-bound ship carrying international activists, including Greta Thunberg, in an early morning raid Monday. The operation sparked accusations that Israel's actions, apparently in the high seas, were a breach of international law.
The activists say their journey was meant to protest Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there. The ship was carrying aid destined for people in Gaza, including baby formula and food. The activists, including Thunberg, were detained and were headed to Israel for likely deportation.
It's not the first time Israel has halted ships carrying aid bound for the Palestinian territory. A raid in 2010 descended into violence between activists and Israeli commandos, leaving eight Turks and one Turkish-American killed. Most of the other operations against Gaza-bound boats have ended uneventfully, with ships diverted and activists detained.
Israel says the latest ship planned to violate its blockade on Gaza and says it acted in accordance with international law.
Can Israel storm a ship in the high seas? Here is a look at the legal debate.
Intercepted far off the coast of Gaza
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the latest ship, says the Madleen was intercepted in international waters some 200 kilometers (124 miles) off the coast of Gaza, a claim that could not be independently verified. Israeli authorities have not disclosed the location where the ship was halted.
Robbie Sabel, an international law expert and former legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state only has jurisdiction up to 12 nautical miles (19 kilometers) from its shores.
In general, states don't have the right to seize ships in international waters, but there are exceptions, including during armed conflict, Sabel added.
He said that even before the latest war, Israel was in an armed conflict with Hamas, allowing it to intercept ships it suspected were violating its longstanding blockade of Gaza, which Egypt also enforced. Rights groups have long criticized the blockade as unlawful collective punishment against Palestinians.
Sabel cited a U.N. report on the 2010 raid that ended in activist fatalities, which stated that 'attempts to breach a lawfully imposed naval blockade place the vessel and those on board at risk.' The debate over the legality of Israel's blockade remains unresolved among legal experts.
The U.N. report urged states to be cautious in the use of force against civilian vessels and called on humanitarian missions to deliver aid through regular channels. It said a country maintaining a naval blockade 'must abide by their obligations with respect to the provision of humanitarian assistance.'
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