Israeli naval forces raided the Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful humanitarian mission comprising nearly 50 civilian boats and over 500 participants, including activists, lawmakers, and journalists from various countries.
The flotilla vessels, loaded mainly with humanitarian aid and medical supplies, set sail at the end of August.
It was the first time in years that such number of vessels sailed together toward Gaza, carrying 532 civilian supporters from over 45 countries.
Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million, for nearly 18 years, and further tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The UN and rights groups have repeatedly warned that the enclave is being rendered uninhabitable, with starvation and disease spreading rapidly.
How did Israel respond?
Israeli navy soldiers boarded vessels and detained scores of activists aboard, but 12 hours after the military began intercepting the vessels, several boats continued sailing and were nearing the besieged territory on Thursday.
According to the official flotilla tracker, Israeli forces have so far detained at least 317 activists from 21 vessels, including 25 Turkish citizens.
The detained activists are being transported to Israel’s Ashdod Port, from which they will be deported to Europe, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
The Global Sumud Flotilla has been streaming its voyage online via live cameras aboard different boats, though several connections were lost as Israeli authorities began intercepting them in international waters on Wednesday evening.
The flotilla’s live tracker showed at least 20 boats were intercepted while others were sailing on and appeared to be only a few miles away from Gaza, and one boat appeared to have crossed into the strip’s territorial waters, according to the activists’ tracker.
Live feeds, communications scrambled
Among the activists who have been detained by Israeli soldiers are Greta Thunberg, former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau, European parliament member Rima Hassan and others.
The boats were about 70 nautical miles off Gaza when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching.
The organisers said their communications, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats, had been scrambled.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted photos and videos of the activists, saying in a statement on X that they were “safe and in good health”.
Earlier, live broadcasts overnight from the activists, showed Israeli boats approaching their vessels, spraying them with water canons and flashing bright lights before soldiers boarded the flotilla.
Anticipating the interceptions, activists wearing life jackets sat in circles and raised their hands in the air.
Some managed to stream the moment live from their cell phones before tossing their devices into the sea.
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What is the world saying?
The interception has sparked widespread condemnation.