Turkey Opens Probe Into German Search of Its Libya-bound Vessel

 Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)
Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)
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Turkey Opens Probe Into German Search of Its Libya-bound Vessel

 Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)
Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)

Turkey has opened a probe Friday into the suspension of its freighter Rosaline A in the Mediterranean Sea by marines from the German frigate Hamburg, part of the European Union's Operation Irini, which is tasked to enforce a UN embargo to stop weapons reaching conflict-torn Libya.

In a statement issued on Friday, the public prosecutor in Ankara said that although there was no authorization to search the commercial vessel in open waters on November 22, it was unlawfully searched, adding that it “opened an investigation” over the incident.

The German frigate Hamburg had boarded the freighter after orders from the mission's headquarters in Rome on suspicion it carried weapons to Libya.

The search operation was suspended as Turkey disapproved Irini’s “unilateral” action, saying the search was “unauthorized and conducted by force” and insisted that its objections prior to the search were ignored.

Irini later confirmed that the commercial Turkish cargo vessel was carrying food and paint supplies to Libya in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey’s National Security Council (MGK) chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoaan expressed Turkey’s disapproval and condemnation of Irini’s “unilateral” action and it reiterated the country’s determination to take the necessary steps against it.

Operation IRINI is a concrete contribution to international efforts to help to end the conflict in Libya.

In a related development, German media said a classified EU document revealed illegal arms cargo bound for Libya. It explained that a secret EU report cited by the German news agency DPA on Friday, indicated the Roseline A had long been watched on suspicion of making illegal arms shipments.

In a report for United Nations experts, EU-Irini military analysts had previously spotted military aircraft being unloaded in the Libyan port of Misrata in satellite images, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Operation IRINI said in a statement issued last week that it had reasonable grounds to suspect that it could be acting in violation of the UN arms embargo.

“Operation IRINI boarded the vessel and inspected it in accordance with internationally agreed procedures including NATO procedures and operation IRINI’s boarding team acted with the highest degree of professionalism,” it said.



Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is "facing total collapse" because of Israel's blockade on aid supplies since March 2, the heads of 12 major aid organizations warned Thursday, urging Israel to let them "do our jobs".

Israel has vowed to maintain its blockage on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory, saying it is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held there.

"Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive," the chief executives of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, wrote in a joint statement.

"That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2," they said, adding that "This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation."

A survey of 43 international and Palestinian aid organizations working in Gaza found that almost all have suspended or drastically cut services since a ceasefire ended on March 18, "with widespread and indiscriminate bombing making it extremely dangerous to move around", the NGOs said.

"Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza," they said. "Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point."

"We call on all parties to guarantee the safety of our staff and to allow the safe, unfettered access of aid into and across Gaza through all entry points, and for world leaders to oppose further restrictions."

Israel's renewed assault has killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.