"Three vessels -- Gaza Sunbirds, Alaa Al-Najjar, and Anas Al-Sharif -- have been attacked and illegally intercepted by the Israeli military" in the early morning, 220 kilometres (around 140 miles) off the coast of Gaza, the Global Sumud Flotilla said on X.

It said another ship, the Conscience, carrying more than 90 journalists, doctors and activists, was also "under attack", while its crew on the Milad "are being illegally abducted by Israel".

The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed it had intercepted the boats.

"The vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port," it said on social media.

"The passengers are expected to be deported promptly," it added.

The pro-Palestinian activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition said the boats were carrying "vital aid worth over $110,000 USD in medicines, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies that were destined for Gaza's starving hospitals".

Israel has blocked several international aid flotillas in recent months from reaching Gaza, where the UN says famine has set in.

Last week Israeli naval forces abducted another Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels, carrying politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The move drew mass protests across Europe, while Hamas condemned the interception as a "crime of piracy and maritime terrorism".

Hundreds of thousands of protesters joined pro-Palestinian mass demonstrations in cities across the world last weekend, calling for an immediate end to the war and the release of activists on board that flotilla.

Israel has killed at least 67,160 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry, figures the United Nations considers credible.

Over half of the dead are women and children.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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