Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an ideological ally of Donald Trump, has urged the Gaza aid flotilla to stop to avoid jeopardising the US president's plan to end Israel's war on Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which includes Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and several Italian lawmakers among its participants, aims to break Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory and deliver vital aid to its population, who the UN says are suffering from widespread starvation.
But Meloni - whose government has dispatched a frigate to provide the flotilla with protection - warned the "hope" represented by Trump's plan, unveiled at the White House on Monday, "rests on a fragile balance which many people would be happy to destroy".
"I fear that the flotilla's attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade could serve as a pretext to do so," the far-right leader said in a statement.
"For this reason too, I believe that the flotilla should stop now and accept one of the various proposals put forward for the safe transfer of aid," Meloni added.
"Any other choice risks becoming a pretext for preventing peace, fuelling conflict and therefore affecting above all the people of Gaza."
Israel, whose offensive in Gaza has led to widespread international condemnation, has repeatedly accused the flotilla of being a Hamas operation, without providing justification.
It has told the flotilla to deliver the aid to an Israeli port instead, promising it will be transferred to Gaza by the Israeli authorities.
The flotilla has refused to do so, pointing to what the United Nations says is Israel's refusal to let aid into the besieged territory despite the Middle East's first UN-declared famine.
Having set sail from Barcelona earlier this month, the flotilla could reach Israel's naval blockade in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Trump's plan, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages taken by Hamas within 72 hours, a disarmament of the Palestinian militants and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
This comes as Italy's navy said it will stop following the international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza once it gets within 150 nautical miles (278 km) of the shore, the Italian defence ministry said on Tuesday. .
Once the convoy reaches the 150 nautical miles limit, the Italian frigate accompanying it will stop, "as communicated several times in recent days," the ministry said in a statement.
The ship will issue two warnings to activists, with the second and final one foreseen at around 00:00 GMT, when the flotilla is expected to get within the stated distance, the statement added.
Earlier on Tuesday, an Italian spokeswoman for the flotilla, Maria Elena Delia, said that activists had been informed about the government's plans to have the navy ship stop and turn back to avoid "a diplomatic incident" with Israel.
She said the flotilla had no intention of heeding Italy's warnings not to get closer to the shore. Italy and Spain deployed navy vessels last week to assist the flotilla, after it was hit by drones armed with stun grenades and irritants in international waters off Greece, but without any intention to engage militarily.
Delia said activists were bracing for another strike in the coming hours. "Israel will probably attack us tonight, because all the signals point to this happening," she said in a video on Instagram.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has said he expects flotilla boats to be intercepted in the open sea and activists to face arrest.
(Reuters)