Spain has announced it will send a naval “action ship” from Cartagena to the eastern Mediterranean to defend the Global Sumud Flotilla on its mission to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza.
The decision follows a night of Israeli drone attacks—14 strikes in total—that targeted humanitarian boats and left several vessels damaged.
Defense Minister Margarita Robles said Spain has both a legal and moral duty to act, stressing that unarmed humanitarian workers cannot be abandoned to repeated assaults in international waters.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, one of Europe’s clearest voices condemning Israel’s genocide in Gaza, has now taken a bold step by directly committing Spanish military protection to those risking their lives to deliver aid.
Italy earlier deployed a Navy frigate under the same justification, also calling the protection of humanitarian workers a legal obligation. With both Rome and Madrid now standing openly against Israel’s war crimes at sea, pressure is building on other European governments to move from words to action in defense of Palestinian life and dignity.
