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. More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities, while more than 800 have been killed since Israel agreed to a “ceasefire” in October last year.International activists said the flotillas are intended to deliver aid and draw attention to the blockade, which rights groups and United Nations experts have described as collective punishment of Palestinians. Gaza has been under an Israeli air, land and sea blockade since 2007.Now with activists from more than 46 countries detained, organisers said they fear the sanctions and accusations of Hamas links are being used to justify further crackdowns. The concerns come amid previous allegations by acti …
