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At least two ships from a pro-Palestinian flotilla have been boarded by Israeli forces roughly 75 miles off the coast of Gaza, as it attempted to breach the maritime blockade of the war-torn territory and bring aid.
Several media outlets reported that other vessels are also being intercepted.
The raid began with the flotilla’s flagship, Alma, whose crew were detained by Israeli soldiers. The environmental activist Greta Thunberg was among those on board the Alma. In a video message posted on Instagram shortly before the interception, Thunberg said: “My name is Greta Thunberg. I am on board the ship Alma. We are about to be intercepted by Israel.”
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists including Thunberg and the actor Susan Sarandon, was heading towards Gaza bringing humanitarian aid despite repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
The vessels were sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday afternoon and had 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 and which the flotilla has been warned not to cross.
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. The broadcast cut off shortly afterwards.
“Our vessels are being illegally intercepted,” a message on the flotilla’s Instagram page read on Wednesday evening. “Cameras are offline and vessels have been boarded by military personnel. We are actively working to confirm the safety and status of all participants on board.”
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Multiple outlets reported on Wednesday evening that at least two vessels had been boarded by Israeli forces.
In one of the latest messages sent from on board Yasemin Acar, a member of the flotilla’s steering committee, said Israeli ships had surrounded the Alma, one of the vessels in the convoy.
“The [Israel Defense Forces] is now surrounding the Alma vessel on both sides of the boat,” Acar said. “They are close. We are getting into position and ready to be intercepted.”
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.”
The flotilla is insisting on continuing the journey to Gaza. Early in the morning, activists said two Israeli warships aggressively approached two of their boats, circling them and jamming their communications, including the live onboard cameras.
Italy’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that his Israeli counterpart had assured him the IDF would not use violence against activists on board the flotilla.
“The boarding was planned, we are talking about it … with [Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar] so that there would be no violent actions on the part of the Tel Aviv armed forces, and this has been assured to me,” Antonio Tajani said to Italian TV broadcaster Rai.
“We instructed our embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem to assist all Italians who will probably be taken to Ashdod, but then will be expelled,” he added.
Israel’s government has accused some of the flotilla members of being linked to Hamas, while providing no 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, had urged the activists to turn back and avoid confrontation. But while Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said late on Tuesday that the flotilla’s actions risked undermining Donald Trump’s recent proposal for resolving the war in Gaza, Spain’s prime minister defended them.
“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.
If undisturbed, the flotilla, which began its journey from the Spanish port of Barcelona a month ago, was to reach the shores of Gaza by Thursday morning, the group said.
The naval blockade was imposed in 2009 by Israel, an intensification of its 2007 blockade of Gaza in response to Hamas seizing control of the territory. It has been condemned on numerous occasions by the United Nations, which has called it “a direct contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law”.
Yuval Shany, an expert on international law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that as long as Israel’s blockade of Gaza is “militarily justified” – meant to keep out weapons – and the ship intended to break the siege, Israel can intercept the vessel after prior warning. Whether the blockade is militarily justified and the legality of the blockade is a point of contention.
But the flotilla argues it is a civilian, unarmed group and that the passage of humanitarian aid is guaranteed in international law. Previous activist attempts to break the naval blockade on Gaza, illegal under international law, were stopped by force by the Israeli military.
In 2010, 10 Turkish activists were killed by Israeli commandos who raided the Mavi Marmara ship leading an aid flotilla towards Gaza.
