The Israeli navy on Wednesday intercepted an aid flotilla bound for Gaza that was being closely watched around the world through its social media posts, according to activists within the flotilla.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is made up of about 50 boats and 500 activists, including the prominent environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg. The press officer for the flotilla, Hasina Kathrada, said nine ships had been intercepted by early Thursday local time.
“Prior to illegally boarding the ships, it appears as though the Israeli naval vessels intentionally damaged ship communications, in an attempt to block distress signals and stop the live-stream of their illegal boat boarding,” the press office for the flotilla said in a statement. “In addition to the boats confirmed to be intercepted, live-stream coverage and communication has been lost with multiple other boats.”
The fleet has been beset by a number of incidents, including explosions, harassment by drones and jamming of communications, which activists say appeared to have been attempts to hinder the ships’ movements.
The goal of the activists has been to deliver a symbolic aid package and send a message by breaking through the Israeli naval blockade and getting to the Gaza Strip.
Greg Stoker, an American veteran aboard one of the boats, said around a dozen naval vessels with their transponders off had approached them while they were about 70 or 80 nautical miles from the Gaza coast.
“They are currently hailing our vessels, telling us to turn off our engines and await further instructions, or our boats will be seized and we will face the consequences,” Stoker, wearing a red life jacket, said in a shaky video posted on Instagram.
A video posted on a Telegram media account associated with the flotilla appears to show one of its ships being sprayed with water with an on-screen caption saying the vessel is being “water canoned.” Another post on the Telegram channel said one of the ships had “been deliberately rammed at sea.”
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry posted on X that the only purpose of the flotilla was “provocation.”
“Israel has informed the flotilla that it is approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful naval blockade. Israel reiterated the offer to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza,” the post said.
A separate X post by the foreign ministry shows a video of Thunberg pulling a white shirt over a black T-shirt and keffiyeh while she is seated next to a kneeling person in military garb.
The flotilla was intercepted as Israeli forces continue their devastating assault on Gaza City, where scores of people have been killed in recent days and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Deaths from starvation have also continued to rise, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
In the nearly two years since, Palestinian health officials say, more than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, while much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble.
The boats in the flotilla were sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday and had entered what activists and others called a “danger zone” or “high risk zone.” While it is still in international waters, it is an area where the Israeli navy has stopped other boats trying to break its blockade in the past and which the flotilla has been warned not to cross.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state has jurisdiction only up to 12 nautical miles from its shores. In general, states don’t have the right to seize ships in international waters, though armed conflict is an exception.
People whom the IDF detained from Gaza-bound flotillas this summer were detained only a few days, but this time could be different, said Miriam Azem, the international advocacy coordinator for Adalah, a human rights organization and legal center.
“We’ve seen a few threats by officials that this time around we might be looking at more prolonged detention. All of these threats are completely unsubstantiated, but we wouldn’t put anything past Israeli authorities in this regard,” Azem said in a phone interview.
Her group will most likely provide legal representation for many of the activists in the Sumud flotilla who could be detained.
“The scale of this, of this flotilla, which really challenges the blockade in a way that hasn’t challenged the blockade before, it makes it really hard to predict how authorities will respond, and we’re not even past the point of all interceptions are over,” Azem said. “It’s still very much unfolding as we speak.”
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