Boats belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying activists and humanitarian aid, prepare to depart for Gaza from the port of Marmaris, Turkey. AP
A live feed on the Global Sumud Flotilla website showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the vessels as activists in life vests put their hands up. Soldiers then destroyed cameras mounted on the vessels.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called for an urgent review of Israel’s use of force after Italian activists said soldiers fired rubber bullets at vessels. Flotilla organizers claimed Israeli soldiers fired on five boats during the interdictions, with some damage.
Israeli forces had begun stopping the flotilla around 167 miles (268 kilometers) from the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website. The vessels departed last week from Turkey.
The boats carry a symbolic amount of aid.
Detained activists being 'forcibly transported,’ group says
On Monday, the Israeli navy stopped some 41 boats from the flotilla in international waters off Cyprus and detained those on board.
The flotilla said late Tuesday that 428 detained activists from over 40 nations remain “unaccounted for” as they have had neither contact with lawyers nor access to consular help and their families haven't been informed of their whereabouts.
Israel's Foreign Ministry Office said Tuesday night that “all 430 activists” had been transferred to Israeli vessels. The post on X, which called the flotilla “a PR stunt at the service of Hamas,” added that they were "making their way to Israel, where they will be able to meet with their consular representatives."
More than a dozen Irish nationals were aboard the flotilla, including the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly. Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin has called Israel’s interception of the boats in international waters “absolutely unacceptable.”
The flotilla urged governments and world leaders to demand the activists “immediate and unconditional release” and to ensure they get legal and consular help without delay.
Earlier Tuesday, the activist group said that the detainees were “being forcibly transported” by an Israeli ship to an unnamed port. It also warned of “grave and immediate concerns” about the activists' physical safety after others detained during an April 30 interdiction detailed “patterns of torture, severe physical abuse and invasive sexual violence” by Israeli forces. Israel denies the allegations.
Turkey and the Palestinian group Hamas have called the interdictions an act of “piracy.” Italy, Spain and Indonesia called on Israel to release activists and ensure their safety.
The U.S. Treasury, however, imposed sanctions against European activists Saif Abu Keshek, Jaldia Abubakra Aueda, Hisham Abdallah Sulayman Abu Mahfuz and Mohammed Khatib, who were aboard the flotilla, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called “pro-terror.”
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.
But according a U.N. World Food Program report, the number of humanitarian and commercial trucks entering Gaza declined sharply in March compared with previous months following the start of the Iran war. A daily average of 112 trucks entered in March.
Activist says they are determined to carry on
Italian activist Daniele Gallina was with six others aboard a sailboat that diverted to a harbor in Cyprus because of technical issues. He said he and his fellow activists saw their mission as an attempt to open Gaza to the world.
“What matters is not only the aid itself, important as it is, but the structural change it represents. It is also about challenging the collaboration of our own governments with these policies,” Gallina told The Associated Press.
Even though the Flotilla’s mission was “entirely pacifist,” Gallina said, the Israeli military’s actions demonstrated how international law is now “openly disregarded," notably against “peaceful civilian missions carrying no weapons.”
He said he and fellow activists remained determined to continue their protests “until Gaza is reached.”
Israel has maintained a sea blockade of Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Israeli authorities intensified it after Oct. 7, 2023.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s war has killed more than 72,700 people.
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