A number of boats from a pro-Palestinian flotilla have been boarded by Israeli forces roughly 75 miles off the coast of Gaza, as the vessels attempted to breach the maritime blockade of the war-torn territory and bring aid.
The raid began with the flotilla’s leading vessel, Alma, whose crew were detained by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed the most prominent of the flotilla’s passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
As of early Thursday, a total of 13 boats had been intercepted or stopped, according to the flotilla’s own ship tracking data, but organisers said the remaining vessels would “continue undeterred”, adding that they were 46 nautical miles (85km) away from their destination.
In a video message posted on Instagram shortly before the interception, Thunberg said: “My name is Greta Thunberg. I am onboard the ship Alma. We are about to be intercepted by Israel.”
Thunberg, along with other activists on the Alma, was arrested and taken into custody at the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists including Thunberg, was heading towards Gaza bringing humanitarian aid despite repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
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The flotilla put out several videos on Telegram with messages from individuals aboard the various boats, some holding their passports stating that they have been abducted and taken to Israel against their will, and reiterating that their mission was a non-violent humanitarian cause.
The vessels were sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday afternoon when the interceptions began 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 had been warned not to cross.
Greta Thunburg arrest
About 7.25pm, 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 onboard.”
Footage broadcast by Sky Italia showed activists on deck being hit by powerful jets of water. Those onboard said they also heard loud bangs near several of the boats, believed to be stun grenades dropped from drones.
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.”
Israel’s navy had previously warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating what it said was a lawful blockade, and asked them to change course. It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza and dismissed the missions as a stunt.
Italy’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that his Israeli counterpart had assured him the IDF would not use violence against activists onboard the flotilla.
The small fleet of civilian boats was in international waters north of Egypt when it was intercepted. Photograph: Stefanos Rapanis/Reuters
“The boarding was planned, we are talking about it … with [the 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 the 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.
Thousands of people took to the streets across Italy in a wave of spontaneous protests after Israeli navy forces boarded the boats, with demonstrations in Bari, Bologna, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Pisa and Rome.
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Italian trade unions also called for a general strike in support of Palestine on Friday.
Protesters in the port of Genoa in Italy as news breaks of the interception. Photograph: Emanuela Zampa/Getty Images
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 the initiative.
“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 UN, which has called it “a direct contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law”.
Passengers and crew onboard the Aurora, another vessel in the fleet. Photograph: Global Sumud Flotilla/Reuters
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 its legality, are points 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 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.
