“WE WILL STAY ON COURSE TOWARD GAZA,” the flotilla declared in response to Israel.
The group also released audio recordings of Israeli warnings, in which the navy told them: “You are entering an active war zone.”
Flotilla leader Thiago Silva dismissed the threats as an admission of Israel’s crimes. “You’re saying we’re entering a war zone? We’re entering a zone where you commit war crimes,” he said. He invoked the International Court of Justice ruling that Israel must not obstruct humanitarian aid, as well as the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for using starvation as a weapon of war.
“It is our moral duty to continue sailing. It is our moral duty to refuse any attempt of an occupying force to control humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Silva added. “We do not recognize you as a legitimate agent to block aid. Stand down. Do not commit yet another war crime against our peaceful humanitarian mission.”
The activists reported tracking more than 20 unidentified vessels three nautical miles ahead of their position, raising fears of an imminent blockade. Just an hour earlier, they had announced their entry into the R3 High-Risk Zone, the same stretch of sea where Israel intercepted their previous mission, the Handala.
The flotilla’s voyage comes nearly two years into Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians since October 2023, displaced almost the entire population of the coastal strip, and left famine conditions across much of the territory.
Despite repeated international rulings, Israel has maintained its land, air, and sea blockade, effectively cutting off independent aid delivery routes. The International Court of Justice ruled in January 2024 that Israel must allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but activists and UN agencies say Tel Aviv continues to defy the order.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying around 50 vessels and 500 activists, including Greta Thunberg, Mandla Mandela, and several European lawmakers, set sail from Spain last month with symbolic aid and a clear political message of defiance to what they call Israel’s “genocide in Gaza.”
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.
Earlier attempts to break the blockade by sea were met with force. In June 2025, the vessel Madleen was seized by Israeli forces as it attempted to deliver food during Gaza’s famine. In May, another ship caught fire off Malta after what organisers described as an Israeli drone attack.
Overnight, the activists said two Israeli warships aggressively approached two of their boats, circling them and jamming their communications, including the live cameras on board.
“It was an intimidation act. They wanted us to see them,” said Lisi Proença, another activist who was on board the Sirius, a vessel that was targeted alongside the Alma.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state only has jurisdiction up to 12 nautical miles (19 kilometres) from its shores. In general, states don’t have the right to seize ships in international waters, though armed conflict is an exception to this.
If undisturbed, the flotilla is to reach the shores of Gaza by Thursday morning, the group said.
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