Israel detains 223 activists after attacking Gaza aid flotilla

The Global Sumud flotilla shared on Instagram the names and nationalities of 223 activists aboard the 15 of attacked vessels.

The activists aboard the ships attacked by Israel included citizens of Spain, Italy, Brazil, Turkiye, Greece, the US, Germany, Sweden, Britain, and France.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said through the US social media company X that the detained activists are on their way to Israel’s Ashdod Port, from which they will be deported to Europe.

A flotilla tracker showed that 21 vessels have been attacked by the Israeli forces, as 23 others continue their way to Gaza.

According to the tracker, the Mikeno vessel has entered Gaza’s territorial waters, however, the tracking signal was lost with the vessel when it was about 9.3 nautical miles from Gaza.

According to Erdem Ozveren, a Turkish activist from the global mission, their vessel is less than 30 nautical miles (55 kilometers) away from Gaza.

The Global Sumud flotilla said Israeli forces surrounded the vessels as they sailed toward Gaza to challenge a years-long Israeli blockade. Activists reported signal jamming and communication cut aboard most of the boats.

Several activists posted videos on social media showing Israeli naval boats approaching the convoy and ordering them to change course.

“We are being attacked right now by the Zionist (Israeli) army,” the International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza (ICBSG) said on X. “Some ships have already been intercepted and a state of emergency has been declared aboard all vessels.

“High Alert. Our vessels are being illegally intercepted. Cameras are offline, and vessels have been boarded by military personnel.”

Violence

The committee accused Israel of using violence against the activists, saying naval forces rammed one ship, deployed water cannons, and forcibly boarded vessels while “brutally mistreating peaceful detainees from 50 countries around the world.”

The Israeli Foreign said naval forces had reached the flotilla and ordered activists to divert to the port of Ashdod in southern Israel for inspection before aid could be transferred into Gaza.

Livestream footage from the flotilla showed activists donning life vests as the Israeli boats approached the vessels.

The Israeli raid came despite appeals by international organizations, including Amnesty International, for the protection of the aid flotilla. The UN also warned that any attack on the convoy would be unacceptable.

The flotilla, loaded mainly with humanitarian aid and medical supplies, set sail at the end of August. Comprising more than 50 ships, it is 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 this year 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.