resident Sergio Mattarella on Friday appealed to the Global Sumud Flotilla to accept an offer from the Catholic Church for it to take the aid it is carrying to Cyprus for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to then take it to Gaza.

The head of State said it was necessary to ensure the safety of the people, including many Italian citizens, on the boats that have set out to break though the Israeli blockage to deliver aid to Gaza “In order to safeguard the value of the initiative taken, a value that has been expressed with wide resonance and significance, it appears necessary to preserve the goal of getting the aid collected to the suffering population,” Mattarella said of the offer mediated by the Italian government, which the flotilla turned down on Thursday.

“I take the liberty of appealing with particular intensity to the women and men of the Flotilla to take up the willingness offered by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem – which is also firmly and courageously committed in its closeness to the people of Gaza – to carry out the task of safely delivering the solidarity that has been destined for the children, women, and men of Gaza.

“The value of human life, which seems to have lost all meaning in Gaza, where it is severely trampled on with inhuman suffering for the population, requires that we avoid putting the safety of any person at risk”.

Defence Minister Giudo Crosetto told the Lower House on Thursday that the government will not be able to do anything to protect the Flotilla if it enters Israel’s territorial waters.

The Italian Navy has a frigate sailing close to the Flotilla after it came under a drone attack this week.