Necva Taştan Sevinç

30 April 2026•Update: 30 April 2026

A Greek activist group on Thursday accused the government of remaining silent over Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, calling for nationwide protests.

The group, “March to Gaza Greece,” announced an emergency demonstration to be held at 6 pm local time (1500 GMT) outside the Greek Foreign Ministry in Athens, urging citizens to take to the streets.

In a statement on the US social media platform Facebook, the group claimed that Israel targeted the flotilla and that vessels were intercepted in Greece’s search and rescue zone.

“Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla took place with the direct cooperation of Greece!” the statement also claimed.

“We call on you in every city, in every corner of Greece to take to the streets to raise our voices against Greek complicity,” the group said.

“We will not remain silent. Everyone to the streets,” it added.

Earlier, Greece’s former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said: “Just spoke to friends on the Global Sumud Flotilla. Israeli vessels & drones are harassing them off the coast of Crete.”

“The Greek government is either complicit or incapable of defending our seas from Israel,” he said through the US social media platform X.

The Israeli navy intercepted vessels from the flotilla late Wednesday as they headed toward Gaza to break a longstanding blockade on the enclave.

The group said Israeli forces surrounded the convoy in international waters near the Greek island of Crete, jammed communications, and seized 21 vessels, adding that 17 vessels managed to escape and enter Greek waters following the incident.

The flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, aims to break Israel’s blockade and open a humanitarian corridor by sea.

The move came hours after Hebrew media reported that Israel was preparing to intercept the flotilla, which includes around 100 boats in total carrying nearly 1,000 activists from several countries.

Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, leaving about 1.5 million Palestinians out of roughly 2.4 million homeless after their homes were destroyed during the war.