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Israeli forces have intercepted around 40 boats carrying aid and foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza, leaving only one vessel still sailing toward the Palestinian enclave, the flotilla organizers said on Thursday.
Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats, verified by Reuters, showed Israeli soldiers sporting helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled together in life vests with their hands up.
A video from the Israeli Foreign Ministry showed Thunberg, the most prominent of the flotilla’s passengers, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
Thunberg, 22, best known for her environmental advocacy, had pre-recorded a video that was released on her behalf after her ship was boarded.
“If you are watching this video, I have been abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces. Our humanitarian mission was non-violent and abiding by international law,” she said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry released a video on Wednesday, verified by Reuters, that appeared to show Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg surrounded by several masked and armed soldiers. The video accompanied a post by the ministry on X in which it said several vessels of the Gaza aid flotilla were stopped and their passengers were being transferred to an Israeli port.
The people aboard the intercepted vessels were expected to be taken initially to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where one ship was seen arriving by a Reuters witness.
“All the passengers are safe and in good health. They are making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe,” the Israeli foreign ministry said on X.
“One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented,” it added.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), the organizer of the voyage, said an estimated 443 volunteers had been detained, some of them transferred to one large cargo vessel before being taken ashore.
Canadians aboard vessel also headed to Gaza
Nikita Stapleton, one of the Canadians aboard The Conscience, a vessel that’s part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a separate group of vessels also headed toward Gaza, said the crew expected to witness the interception of the GSF.
“That was definitely something that, unfortunately, as wrong as it is, it is something that is very much anticipated and expected,” Stapleton said about Israel’s interception of the GSF vessels.
“We are definitely concerned by it, but not swayed in what we are doing in any way.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is carrying medics and journalists along with aid, is between Athens and Crete as of Thursday afternoon.
Sadie Mees, another Canadian on the same vessel, said the crew hopes their mission will highlight Israel’s targeting of doctors, journalists and aid workers.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly sounded the alarm about the deaths and arbitrary detainment of doctors, journalists and aid workers in the nearly two-year-long war in the territory.
Highest-profile symbol of opposition to Gaza siege
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa joined international condemnation of Israel’s move, calling it a “grave offence” against “global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza.”
Ramaphosa says the interception in international waters reinforced Israel’s continued violation of international law, and he called on Israel to immediately release South Africans who were on the flotilla, including former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela.
The flotilla, which set sail in late August, is transporting medicine and food to Gaza and consists of more than 40 civilian vessels with about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists. It’s the highest-profile symbol of opposition to Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
The flotilla’s progress across the Mediterranean Sea garnered international attention as nations including Turkey, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday criticized Israeli aggression, saying it showed Israel’s government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.
“I condemn the thuggery directed at the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set out to draw attention to the barbarity of children dying of hunger in Gaza and to deliver humanitarian aid to the oppressed Palestinians,” he said in a speech to officials from his AK Party in the capital, Ankara.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the expulsion of Israel’s entire diplomatic delegation on Wednesday following the detention of two Colombians in the flotilla and terminated Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned Israel’s actions and said Israeli forces had detained 23 Malaysians.
Interception triggers protests
Israel’s interception of the flotilla sparked protests in Italy and Colombia, while protests were also called in Greece, Ireland and Turkey. Italian unions called a general strike for Friday.
Israel’s navy had previously warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade and asked organizers to change course. It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza.
The flotilla is the latest seaborne attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war.
In a statement, Hamas expressed support for the activists and called Israel’s interception of the flotilla a “criminal act,” calling for public protests to condemn Israel.
The boats were about 70 nautical miles (around 130 kilometres) off Gaza when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching. The organizers said their communications, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats, had been scrambled.
Greece said it has been informed that 39 boats from the flotilla are sailing to the Israeli port of Ashdod and that everyone onboard is safe, no violence was exerted, the Greek public broadcaster reported.
As It Happens6:38Aid flotilla determined to carry out its mission as it nears Gaza’s shores
The flotilla had hoped to arrive in Gaza on Thursday morning if it was not intercepted.
Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt.
“This systematic refusal [to hand over the aid] demonstrates that the objective is not humanitarian, but provocative,” Jonathan Peled, the Israeli ambassador to Italy, said in a post on X.
Prior attempts by sea
Israel has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control of the coastal enclave in 2007, and there have been several previous attempts by activists to deliver aid by sea.
In 2010, nine activists were killed after Israeli soldiers boarded a flotilla of six ships manned by 700 pro-Palestinian activists from 50 countries.
In June this year, Israeli naval forces detained Thunberg and 11 crew members from a small ship organized by a pro-Palestinian group called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as they approached Gaza.
Israel began its Gaza offensive after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say.