Bethlehem / PNN/
Israeli occupation forces have seized 12 of the 44 boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters on Wednesday evening, cutting off contact with the vessel that was carrying humanitarian aid and activists bound for Gaza.
“Our ships face unlawful interception and camera disruption as armed soldiers board them,” Global Sumud Flotilla said.
“The warships are moving in to intercept the flotilla — only 81 nautical miles remain to Gaza,” said the Maghreb contingent of the Flotilla in a statement.
Israeli military have have taken control of nine vessels: Morgana; Otaria; Grand Blu; Sirus; Alma; Spectra; Hoga; Adara; Florida; Yulara; Deir Yassin; and Hio. Florida was also rammed by Israeli ships.
However, some boats were reported by witnesses to still be moving forward, as Israeli naval vessels attempted to block their passage using water cannon.
Footage broadcast by Sky Italia showed 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.
Earlier, French politician Marie Mesmeur and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan also reported that their boats were being intercepted.
Rima Hassan told Al Jazeera, “Israeli boats are surrounding us and stopping the Global Sumud Flotilla ships one by one. We will not hand over the aid destined for Gaza to Israel, because we cannot trust a state that commits genocide and starves the Palestinian people.”
The Sirius-Haifa — carrying Drop Site editor Alex Colston — was boarded by Israeli military, according to Novara Media and Middle East Eye. Contact with Colston has been lost; as part of security protocols, he and other participants were instructed to throw their phones overboard before interception.
Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that the Israeli forces’ attack in international waters on the Global Sumud Flotilla is a terrorist act that endangers the lives of innocent people.
The Sumud Flotilla — around 44 vessels carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg — left Spain last month, aiming to break Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory, where the UN says famine has set in.
At around 1500 GMT on Wednesday, the flotilla said it was less than 90 nautical miles (about 170 kilometres) from the Gaza Strip.
“We sail on undeterred by Israeli threats and tactics of intimidation,” said the flotilla.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said on Wednesday that the Israeli army had contacted its ships and ordered them to change course, but the convoy immediately rejected the demand.
“WE WILL STAY ON COURSE TOWARD GAZA,” the flotilla declared in response to Israel.
The group also released audio recordings of Israeli warnings, in which the navy told them: “You are entering an active war zone.”
Flotilla leader Thiago Silva dismissed the threats as an admission of Israel’s crimes. “You’re saying we’re entering a war zone? We’re entering a zone where you commit war crimes,” he said. He invoked the International Court of Justice ruling that Israel must not obstruct humanitarian aid, as well as the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for using starvation as a weapon of war.
“It is our moral duty to continue sailing. It is our moral duty to refuse any attempt of an occupying force to control humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Silva added. “We do not recognize you as a legitimate agent to block aid. Stand down. Do not commit yet another war crime against our peaceful humanitarian mission.”
The activists reported tracking more than 20 unidentified vessels three nautical miles ahead of their position, raising fears of an imminent blockade. Just an hour earlier, they had announced their entry into the R3 High-Risk Zone, the same stretch of sea where Israel intercepted their previous mission, the Handala.
Mass protests instantly
Mass protests have erupted across Europe, North Africa, and Asia immediately after Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Demonstrators denounced the raid as piracy in international waters and vowed solidarity with those detained at sea, as the outpouring of anger quickly spilled into train stations, embassies, ministries, and central squares in several European countries.
Italian cities exploded in protest after news of the raid.
In Naples, demonstrators stormed the central train station and occupied its tracks. Rome’s Termini and Turin’s Porta Nuova were similarly disrupted, with crowds chanting for Gaza, denouncing government complicity, and breaking into the workers’ famous anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao.
Large crowds also filled Milan, Bologna, Genoa, Palermo, Florence and other cities, chanting “Meloni assassina” (Meloni is a killer), in reference to Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, a direct accusation of the right-wing PM’s complicity in the genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The Italian unions CGIL and USB announced a nationwide general strike for Friday, covering all public and private sectors. The move follows Israel’s attack on the Gaza flotilla carrying citizens from Italy and 40+ other nations.
In their joint statement, CGIL called the assault “a crime against unarmed people” and warned it was also “an attack on Italy’s constitutional order” because it undermined the state’s duty to protect its citizens.
They denounced Rome for abandoning Italian workers and volunteers “in free international waters, in violation of our constitutional principles.”
In Athens, protesters gathered outside the Foreign Ministry just minutes after Israel’s interception. It followed an earlier strike in which over ten thousand Greek workers and students had already taken to the streets, halting trains, ferries, and taxis while carrying Palestinian flags and denouncing both new labour laws and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
In Paris, thousands have occupied Place de la République, demanding the immediate release of the flotilla crews and activists and waving Palestinian flags and chanting for Gaza.
In Turkey, thousands rallied outside the US Embassy in Ankara and the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, condemning the attack on the flotilla.
Beyond the big cities, smaller towns and villages saw spontaneous gatherings, led mostly by women, where people held Qurans aloft and prayed for the safety of the flotilla participants.
In Tunisia, crowds filled Habib Bourguiba Street in downtown Tunis, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Resistance, resistance, no peace, no compromise”.
Challenging genocide
The flotilla’s voyage comes nearly two years into Israel’s genocidal war and blockade on Gaza, which has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians since October 2023, displaced almost the entire population of the coastal strip, and left famine conditions across much of the territory.
Despite repeated international rulings, Israel has maintained its land, air, and sea blockade, effectively cutting off independent aid delivery routes. The International Court of Justice ruled in January 2024 that Israel must allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but activists and UN agencies say Tel Aviv continues to defy the order.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying around 44 vessels and 500 activists, including Greta Thunberg, Mandla Mandela, and several European lawmakers, set sail from Spain last month with symbolic aid and a clear political message of defiance to what they call Israel’s “genocide in Gaza.”
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.
Earlier attempts to break the blockade by sea were met with force. In June 2025, the vessel Madleen was seized by Israeli forces as it attempted to deliver food during Gaza’s famine. In May, another ship caught fire off Malta after what organisers described as an Israeli drone attack.
Overnight, the activists said two Israeli warships aggressively approached two of their boats, circling them and jamming their communications, including the live cameras on board.
“It was an intimidation act. They wanted us to see them,” said Lisi Proença, another activist who was on board the Sirius, a vessel that was targeted alongside the Alma.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state only has jurisdiction up to 12 nautical miles (19 kilometres) from its shores. In general, states don’t have the right to seize ships in international waters, though armed conflict is an exception to this.
If undisturbed, the flotilla is to reach the shores of Gaza by Thursday morning, the group said.
Source link
#Israeli #navy #water #cannons #stun #grenades #assault #Gazabound #Sumud #Flotilla
