The Israeli navy intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels on Monday morning as the civilian mission was sailing 260 nautical miles, about 400 kilometers, from the Gaza Strip. The organization denounced shots fired at the humanitarian boats and warned of an imminent risk of fatalities during the operation.
The mission had set sail on Thursday from the Turkish port of Marmaris with around fifty vessels, but by Tuesday afternoon only one was still heading towards Gaza. Between these two moments, Israel went from an initial interception to an assault on the last ships, with shots fired, the boarding of speedboats, and ramming one of the boats, according to activists.
Only one of the fifty vessels continued the journey to Gaza
During the intervention, flotilla members reported that Israeli boats and speedboats boarded several vessels. They also claimed that radios began broadcasting music to prevent them from alerting the coast guard.
Joan, a crew member on one of the boats, explained that during the operation they were informed that the interception would continue and that the activists would be transferred to a prison ship before reaching an Israeli port.
Hours later, the Global Sumud Flotilla confirmed that the Israeli army was forcibly transferring hundreds of detained activists to a port in occupied Palestine, which they were expected to reach in the following hours.
Israel had already stopped about twenty boats on April 30
The mission had already suffered an initial interception on April 30. In that operation, about twenty vessels were trapped, and the crew reported that Israeli military speedboats aimed lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons at them.
After that first incident, two activists were detained for more than a week. Several participants chose to return to their homes, while others decided to rejoin the flotilla to continue the journey.
Saif Abukeshek, one of the organizers, explained that the group reviewed their options before deciding whether to proceed. They ultimately maintained the mission to denounce the actions of the Israeli government in Palestine in recent years.
Activists released videos of the detention during the assault
The organization published recordings of some of those detained during the operation. Among them is a video of Ariadna Masmitjà in which the activist states that if those images were disseminated, it was because they were kidnapped.
For its part, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs disseminated images on its X account in which it claims that it did not find any type of aid on the intercepted boats.
Joan stated that, during the intervention, the military informed them that they would be transferred to a prison ship before being taken to a port in Israel.