Flotilla Fiasco: No Aid, Just Instagram Gold.

Ah, yes, another day, another "humanitarian" armada steaming toward Gaza like it's the world's most glamorous publicity stunt. But hold the violins, it turns out the Global Sumud Flotilla, that noble fleet of 40 vessels Israel politely intercepted on Yom Kippur (because nothing says "peace" like crashing a holy day), wasn't exactly packed with baby formula and bandages. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, not a single boat was carrying any humanitarian supplies. 

Gee, you think?

"It was never about bringing aid to Gaza. It was about the headlines and social media followings," Israeli Police spokesperson Dean Elsdunne said, dropping that mic in a video the ministry helpfully released. There he is, giving a grand tour of one of the flotilla's biggest ships: empty holds, echoing chambers, the kind of void you'd expect from a virtue-signaling cruise rather than a mercy mission. 

This explains why the organizers thumbed their noses at Israel's offers, and those from multiple countries, to offload any supposed aid and skip the whole "entering an active war zone and breaking international law" bit. Let's be real, if it were about helping Gazans, they'd have taken the easy route. But no, better to play chicken with the IDF for those sweet retweets.

Round Two: Because One PR disaster wasn't enough separately, and by "separately," I mean "because why learn from failure," another flotilla is now chugging toward the Gaza Strip, if you believe the breathless social media posts from the Sumud crew. 

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition swears a boat called "Conscience" (oh, the irony) shoved off from Italy on Wednesday, stuffed with about 100 self-proclaimed activists, all funded by Hamas, we've since learned. They claim a bunch are "healthcare workers and journalists," which sounds noble until you remember how that played out last time. Eight more boats hightailed it out of Italy nearly a week ago, and if the live internet trackers are to be trusted, the whole nine-ship circus is loitering near Crete right now, probably snapping selfies with the minotaur.

Meanwhile, the Sumud Flotilla's X accounts are buzzing about a second armada: 45 boats allegedly departing from Turkey's Arsuz port, bound for Gaza glory. They've even hosted a video to back it up, but here's the kicker, it's not officially confirmed if those vessels are actually Gaza-bound or just joyriding the Med. 

Fingers crossed for clarity, or at least better GPS.Ben-Gvir's Blunt Take: Lock 'Em Up and Let 'Em Learn Over in the tough-talk corner.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir  blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call to let the flotilla folks hightail it back home as a colossal blunder. "to allow the terror supporters from the flotilla to return to their countries is a mistake," Ben-Gvir fumed."I think they must be kept here in an Israeli prison for a few months, so they can smell the scent of the terrorists' wing."After all, it can't just be that [Netanyahu] sends them back to their countries again and again and again, which causes them to return again and again and again.

You gotta hand it to B-G, repetition for emphasis, with a side of poetic justice. In a world where headlines trump aid every time, maybe a whiff of reality is the real humanitarian gesture these repeat offenders need. I have to agree with the guy and I hope Bibi wakes up.

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