Israel intercepts humanitarian flotilla headed to Gaza, with forces boarding some boats
At least 20 Israeli military vessels have boarded a pro-Palestinian flotilla roughly 75 miles off the coast of Gaza, as it attempted to breach the maritime blockade and bring humanitarian aid.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists including the Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and the actor Susan Sarandon, was heading towards Gaza bringing humanitarian aid despite repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
“You are approaching a blockaded zone,” an Israeli Navy official announced to the flotilla. “If you wish to deliver aid to Gaza, you may do so through the established channels,” instructing the boats to change course.
The vessels were sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday afternoon and entered what has been described as a “danger zone” or “high risk zone”. While still in international waters, it is an area where the Israeli navy has stopped other boats attempting to break its blockade in the past.
About 7.25 pm, roughly 20 Israeli naval ships approached the flotilla and ordered the boats to turn off their engines, activists said on social media. Live footage from the flotilla showed passengers seated in a semi-circle, wearing lifejackets as they awaited interception. A number of camera live-feeds have gone offline.
Several of the activists onboard the boats released pre-recorded videos on their social media accounts, telling viewers that if they were watching the videos, it meant they had been captured by Israeli forces.
The interceptions were confirmed by the Israeli foreign ministry, which said: ‘‘The Israeli navy has reached out to the Gaza aid flotilla and asked them to change course toward Israeli port of Ashdod where aid can be unloaded and transferred to Gaza Strip.”
Key events
Lorenzo Tondo
Some boats from the Gaza flotilla are reported by witnesses to still be moving forward, as Israeli naval vessels attempt to block their passage using water cannon to intimidate the crews. Footage broadcast by Sky Italia shows activists on deck being hit by powerful jets of water.
Those on board said they also heard loud bangs near several of the boats, believed to be stun grenades dropped from drones.
Protests erupted in Brussels in support of the humanitarian flotilla attempting to reach Gaza. According to a post on X, protesters responding to Israel’s interception of the flotilla began marching towards the Belgian foreign ministry.
Several boats of the Gaza aid flotilla have been stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate campaigner, and her friends are “safe and healthy,” the foreign ministry said in a post on X alongside a video that appeared to show Greta Thunberg and several masked and armed Israeli military personnel.
Amnesty International UK called on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to denounce Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
“Reports that Israeli forces have intercepted the Gaza flotilla marks yet another shameful chapter in the brutal and merciless enforcement of Israel’s illegal and immoral 18-year blockade of Gaza and is an attack on international law and basic humanity,” said Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s director of communications. “Keir Starmer has a serious role to play. With British citizens and British-flagged ships involved, he must not revert to silence as usual.”
Moscogiuri then called on Starmer to “immediately condemn this interception, demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those on board, including any British nationals, and insist that Israel ends its unlawful blockade and allows unrestricted humanitarian access to occupied Gaza. Anything less risks complicity in Israel’s grave violations of Palestinians’ rights.”
Italian union calls for general strike over flotilla’s treatment
Lorenzo Tondo
Italy’s largest union has called a general strike for Friday in protest at the treatment of a flotilla seeking to bring aid to Gaza, it said on Wednesday.
Protests were also being held in a number of Italian cities late on Wednesday, including in Naples where demonstrators halted train traffic at the main station after reports that some 20 unidentified vessels were seen approaching the international flotilla.
Last week tens of thousands of people took to the streets in dozens of cities across the country – shutting schools, disrupting trains and blocking ports and roads – in one of Europe’s largest nationwide protests against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Israel intercepts humanitarian flotilla headed to Gaza, with forces boarding some boats
At least 20 Israeli military vessels have boarded a pro-Palestinian flotilla roughly 75 miles off the coast of Gaza, as it attempted to breach the maritime blockade and bring humanitarian aid.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists including the Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and the actor Susan Sarandon, was heading towards Gaza bringing humanitarian aid despite repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
“You are approaching a blockaded zone,” an Israeli Navy official announced to the flotilla. “If you wish to deliver aid to Gaza, you may do so through the established channels,” instructing the boats to change course.
The vessels were sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday afternoon and entered what has been described as a “danger zone” or “high risk zone”. While still in international waters, it is an area where the Israeli navy has stopped other boats attempting to break its blockade in the past.
About 7.25 pm, roughly 20 Israeli naval ships approached the flotilla and ordered the boats to turn off their engines, activists said on social media. Live footage from the flotilla showed passengers seated in a semi-circle, wearing lifejackets as they awaited interception. A number of camera live-feeds have gone offline.
Several of the activists onboard the boats released pre-recorded videos on their social media accounts, telling viewers that if they were watching the videos, it meant they had been captured by Israeli forces.
The interceptions were confirmed by the Israeli foreign ministry, which said: ‘‘The Israeli navy has reached out to the Gaza aid flotilla and asked them to change course toward Israeli port of Ashdod where aid can be unloaded and transferred to Gaza Strip.”
Social media posts say that the Sirius-Haifa boat, forming part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, was intercepted by the Israeli military.
Alex Colston, an editor for Drop Site News who had been reporting on the flotilla during the course of the trip, was on that boat, the outlet says. According to Drop Site News, “contact with Colston has been lost.”
The outlet notes that as part of security protocols, Colston and other participants in the flotilla were instructed to “throw their phones overboard before interception” by Israeli forces.
“Things are moving quickly,” Colston posted on X earlier this afternoon. “The Israeli naval blockade has been confirmed, but it’s unclear when exactly we will cross paths with it.”
A number of camera feeds that were live-streaming the Global Sumud Flotilla went offline, according to a post on the flotilla’s Instagram page, as Israel begins to intercept the boats headed to Gaza.
“We are actively working to confirm the safety and status of all participants on board,” the post says.
Israeli forces have begun to intercept the flotilla that had embarked on the humanitarian mission to provide aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Other live-stream camera feeds on boats forming part of the flotilla remain live.
In a pre-recorded video, posted to Mexican activist Arlín Medrano’s X account, the activist said that if viewers were watching the video, it means she was “intercepted in international waters, illegally, by the Israeli occupation and taken without our consent, to Israeli territory.”
Medrano is one of dozens of activists onboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, attempting to reach Gaza to supply Palestinians with humanitarian aid.
She called on Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and her cabinet to make sure she is returned safe from Israeli custody.
A number of activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla have posted on social media videos saying they have been captured by Israeli forces.
“If you’re watching this video, it means that I have been violently intercepted by Israeli authorities against my will,” said the American activist David Adler, co-general coordinator of Progressive International, in a pre-recorded video posted by the group’s X account. Adler then called on political parties, labor unions and social movements within the group’s network to mobilize against Israel’s war on Gaza.
Similarly, in a separate video posted on Kieran Andrieu’s X account, the reporter with Novara Media said that if viewers were watching the video, “it means I have been kidnapped by Israel.”
Activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla said Israeli warships surrounded several of its boats on Wednesday and that the interception of the main vessels was under way, according to AFP.
“The warships are moving in to intercept the flotilla – only 81 nautical miles remain to Gaza,” said the Maghreb contingent of the Global Sumud Flotilla in a statement.
French politician Marie Mesmeur and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan also reported that their boats were being intercepted.
Earlier, Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar called the flotilla a provocation and warned them to stop and transfer their aid through other channels into Gaza. “It is not too late,” he posted on X.
Israel’s government has accused some of the flotilla members of being linked to Hamas, while providing little evidence to support the claim. Activists have strongly rejected the accusations and said Israel was trying to justify potential attacks on them.
European governments, including Spain and Italy, which had sent their navy ships to escort the flotilla during part of its journey, urged the activists to turn back and avoid confrontation.
“We must remember it is a humanitarian mission that wouldn’t be taking place if the Israeli government had allowed for the entry of aid,” Pedro Sánchez told reporters on Wednesday. Spaniards taking part would benefit from full diplomatic protection, he added. “They present no threat nor danger to Israel,” he said.
Israeli military vessels intercept Gaza aid flotilla some 75 miles off the coast
At least 20 Israeli military vessels intercepted a pro-Palestinian flotilla some 75 miles off the coast of Gaza as it attempted to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of the war-torn enclave and deliver humanitarian aid.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, with Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, and several European lawmakers aboard, consists of nearly 50 boats and 500 activists and is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid.
Activists onboard said the Israeli navy had begun intercepting their boats as they approach the coast.
The Israeli foreign ministry said the navy had reached out to the Gaza aid flotilla and asked them to change course. The navy told the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful naval blockade, and reiterated the offer to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza, a statement from the Israeli foreing ministry said.
Several activists posted videos on social media on Wednesday in which they said Israeli naval vessels were approaching the flotilla and ordering them to turn their engines off.
