Dr Andrew Forde, an assistant professor in international law and human rights at Dublin City University and a commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, said the Freedom Flotilla “only exists because the system of international peace and security has failed to stop an observable genocide in motion”.

The civilian ship Madleen set sail from Catania, Sicily towards Gaza on Sunday, carrying humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in what the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) calls a “direct challenge to Israel’s illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide”.

Lawyers for the FFC claim that Israel “has no legal authority to control or enforce a maritime closure on Gaza and, therefore, no lawful basis to intercept the Madleen”.

Previous attempts to break the illegal Israeli blockade on Gaza by sea have proved fatal, including in 2010 when 10 crew members of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were killed by Israeli soldiers during a raid in international waters.

Dr Forde said it “seems to me almost certain that Israel will seek to intercept [the Madleen] in international waters”, which he said was “in something of a legal grey zone”.

“Whilst one can say that from an international law perspective Israel has a duty to facilitate humanitarian access, one cannot speak of a unilateral right of access by any individual vessel on its own terms — this is an important nuance,” he said.

Dr Andrew Forde

Setting out the context of the initiative, Dr Forde said: “Israel has maintained an illegal blockade in full view of the world and despite international condemnation.

“Israel is now openly and routinely flouting its international obligations including under the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, the Genocide Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in order to impose a new status quo in Gaza, which appears to centre around making the conditions of life almost impossible for Palestinians to remain.

“The litany of international crimes committed by Israel in Gaza bear the hallmarks of genocide: displacement and ethnic cleansing of large swathes of Gaza, deliberately targeting civilians, creating conditions incompatible with life, forcibly transferring the population and starvation as collective punishment.

“Aggravating factors include impeding the work of humanitarian organisations (and even targeting them with lethal force), wilful obstruction of access to humanitarian aid, the imposition of a media blackout in Gaza and the decision not to participate in international legal proceedings at the ICJ.

“Political rhetoric from senior Israeli politicians and government ministers has been openly genocidal (i.e. an expression of intent).”

He continued: “The flotilla is symbolic of the need for meaningful and concerted action when faced with genocide.

“Whilst there is a basis under international law for the flotilla to seek to access Gaza and compelling justifications for this, it is not without controversy and there are a number of legitimate legal counter-arguments.  

“Ultimately, going back to the purpose of the flotilla, the immediate focus has to be on how to bring this appalling situation to an end, and then how Israel should be held accountable for egregious breaches of international law.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition was approached for comment.