62% of Italians think government should protect citizens on board Gaza aid flotilla: Report
ISTANBUL
Some 62% of Italians believe that the Italian government should protect the citizens on board the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, according to a survey reported by the Italian Dire news agency on Tuesday.
A survey by Izi found that 62% of Italians believe the government should protect citizens on board, with 60% favoring diplomatic channels and 40% supporting the deployment of Italian military ships.
It also showed that 72% of Italians support the Global Sumud Flotilla initiative.
In the meantime, 60% of respondents think activists should make compromises for the initiative to succeed, while abandoning the mission is the least supported option, with just 7.3% in favor.
The survey shows that a substantial share of government voters, 62.5%, consider the Italian government’s intervention inappropriate.
The flotilla, loaded mainly with humanitarian aid and medical supplies, set sail several days ago in a bid to break the Israeli blockade.
This marks the first time in years that dozens of ships have sailed together toward Gaza, home to about 2.4 million Palestinians and under Israeli blockade for roughly 18 years.
Israel tightened the siege further this March by closing all border crossings and blocking food, medicine, and aid, pushing Gaza into famine despite aid trucks piling up at its borders.
The Israeli army has killed over 66,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave all but uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of disease.
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