US imposes sanctions on Gaza flotilla organisers: Why it matters

Key points

• Nearly all flotillas over 20 years have been intercepted by Israel, and hundreds remain missing after latest interdiction.
• The United States has imposed sanctions on four activists involved in flotilla missions seeking to break Israel’s 19-year siege on Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, most of them displaced by Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave.
• The sanctions were announced on Tuesday after at least 430 activists were abducted during Israeli interceptions of aid ships heading towards Gaza, which has been facing shortages of food and other necessities due to Israeli curbs on aid deliveries into the enclave.
• Washington accused flotilla organisers, without publicly providing evidence, of trying to reach the Palestinian territory “in support of Hamas”.
• Israel’s blockade of Gaza has caused severe shortages of food, drinking water, medicine and fuel.