CAIRO (Egypt): Israeli forces have occupied several boats of Global Sumud Flotilla with foreign activists carrying aid to Gaza and took them to an Israeli port on Wednesday, disrupting a protest that had become one of the most high-profile symbols of opposition to Israel’s blockade of the enclave.
A video released by Israeli foreign ministry showed the most prominent of the flotilla’s passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
“Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port,” the Israeli foreign ministry said on X. “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.”
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying medicine and food to Gaza, consisted of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists.
Its progress across the Mediterranean Sea had garnered international attention as nations including Turkey, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance.
Turkey’s foreign ministry called Israel’s “attack” on the flotilla “an act of terror” that endangered the lives of innocent civilians, and spontaneous protests broke out across Italy in response to the Israeli raid.
The flotilla is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war.
The flotilla’s organisers denounced Wednesday’s (Oct 1) raid as a “war crime.” They said the military used aggressive tactics, including the use of water cannon but that no one was harmed.
“Multiple vessels … were illegally intercepted and boarded by Israeli Occupation Forces in international waters,” the organisers said in a statement. Ankara said that steps had begun for Israel to release Turks and others on board, while Spain called on Israel to protect the safety and rights of activists.
The flotilla also accused the Israeli navy of trying to sink the Maria Cristina boat. Reuters was not able to confirm the account independently. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claim.
“Tonight’s reports are very concerning. This is a peaceful mission to shine a light on a horrific humanitarian catastrophe,” Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Harris said on X.
The boats were about 70 nautical miles off the war-ravaged enclave when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching. The organisers said their communications had been scrambled, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats.
The flotilla said in a post on Telegram early on Thursday that another vessel, Adara, had been boarded by Israeli forces, and that the status of those on board was unconfirmed.
According to the flotilla’s own ship tracking data, a total of nine boats had been intercepted or stopped. Organizers have remained defiant, saying in a statement that the flotilla “will continue undeterred”.
Israel’s navy had previously warned the flotilla that it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade, and asked them to change course. It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza.
The flotilla is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war.
The flotilla had hoped to arrive in Gaza on Thursday morning if it was not intercepted. This was the second time the flotilla was approached on Wednesday. Before dawn, the mission’s organizers said two Israeli “warships” had encircled two of the flotilla’s boats and scrambled its communications.
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