JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces intercepted Tuesday six remaining vessels from a much larger activist flotilla attempting to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Two other boats are still on their way to the Palestinian territory, according to the activist group's livestream.
A live feed on the Global Sumud Flotilla website showed armed Israeli soldiers on Zodiac boats boarding the Andros, Zefiro, Don Juan, Alcyone and Elengi vessels as activists
donning life vests held their arms up. Israeli soldiers then destroyed cameras mounted on the activists’ boats.
This is the group’s latest effort to underscore the grim living conditions of nearly 2 million Palestinians in the coastal territory, suffering from severe shortages of housing, food, and medicine.
The flotilla boats were stopped around 90-100 miles (145-160 kilometers) from the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website tracker.
The vessels departed last week from the port of Marmaris, Turkey, in what flotilla organizers described as the final leg of their planned journey to Gaza’s shores.
On Monday, the Israeli navy stopped some 41 boats from the activist flotilla in international waters off Cyprus, detaining those on board.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement Tuesday the hundreds of detained activists from over 40 nations were “being forcibly transported” by an Israeli naval ship to an unnamed port, due to arrive at its destination shortly.
More than a dozen Irish nationals were aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, including the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly. Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Monday called Israel’s interception of the Gaza-bound boats in international waters “absolutely unacceptable.”
The Flotilla said it demanded the “immediate, unconditional release of all our participants, alongside the more than 9,000 unjustly detained Palestinian political prisoners” and urged world leaders to press for the same.
The activist group also warned of “grave and immediate concerns” about the physical safety of all those detained following testimonies from other activists detained during an Apr. 30 interdiction. At the time, the activists detailed “patterns of torture, severe physical abuse, and invasive sexual violence” by Israeli forces, allegations Israel denies.
Several nations have condemned the interdictions, with Turkey and Hamas calling them an act of “piracy.” Italy, Spain and Indonesia called on Israel to release all the detained activists and to ensure their safety and well-being. An estimated 45 Spanish nationals took part in the flotilla.
Israel had called the flotilla “a provocation for the sake of provocation” with no real intent to deliver any aid to Gaza. The boats carry a symbolic amount of aid.
The Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid to Gaza claims that sufficient aid is entering the territory, with around 600 trucks delivering assistance daily, similar to prewar levels.
According to a World Food Program report, the number of humanitarian and commercial trucks entering the Gaza Strip declined sharply in March compared with previous months following the Iran war. A daily average of only 112 trucks entered in March, compared to 230 in February and 225 in January.
Israel has maintained a sea blockade of Gaza since the Palestinian militant group Hamas took control of the territory in 2007, which Israeli authorities intensified in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.
Critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment.
Israel has said the blockade, which restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza, was meant to prevent Hamas from arming itself. Egypt, which has the only border crossing with Gaza not controlled by Israel, has also greatly restricted movement in and out of the enclave.
Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire with more than 850 people killed in the territory despite a ceasefire that went into effect in October, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry says Israel’s retaliatory offensive following the Oct. 7 attack has killed more than 72,700 people. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, does not give a breakdown between civilians and militants.
