Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called on the Gaza aid flotilla to halt, warning it could undermine U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, a multinational convoy of around 50 ships attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, has been revealed by Israeli authorities to be directly funded and coordinated by terrorist group Hamas, aiming to provoke Israel under the cover of humanitarian aid.
Meloni warned that the “hope” embodied by Trump’s plan, unveiled at the White House on Monday, “rests on a fragile balance which many people would be happy to destroy.” She added
I fear that the flotilla’s attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade could serve as a pretext to do so
“For this reason too, I believe that the flotilla should stop now and accept one of the various proposals put forward for the safe transfer of aid,” Meloni stressed. “Any other choice risks becoming a pretext for preventing peace, fuelling conflict and therefore affecting above all the people of Gaza.”
The flotilla–which set sail from Barcelona earlier in September–could reach Israel’s naval blockade overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages within 72 hours, the demilitarization of Hamas and other terrorist groups, and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority.
