ISLAMABAD : Monitoring Desk – Israeli forces in a brazen and unlawful action has intercepted 22 vessels out of 58 of Global Sumud Flotilla and detained around 175 crew members in the international waters, which was attempting to break Israel’s illegal blockade and deliver essential humanitarian aid to the occupied Gaza Strip, amidst Israel’s ongoing genocide.
Israeli military forces used drones, communications jamming technology and armed raiding parties to halt the humanitarian fleet in the middle of the Mediterranean as it heads to Gaza, according to organisers and Israeli media.
“Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel’, pointing lasers and semiautomatic assault weapons, ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,” the Global Sumud Flotilla aid mission said on Thursday.
According to the organisation’s Flotilla Tracker map, 22 boats have been intercepted by the Israeli military while 36 are still sailing towards Gaza.
Worldwide Reaction
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, Federative Republic of Brazil, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Kingdom of Spain, Malaysia, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of Colombia, Republic of Maldives, Republic of South Africa, and State of Libya condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful civilian humanitarian initiative aimed at drawing the attention of the international community to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The Israeli attacks against the vessels and the unlawful detention of humanitarian activists in international waters constitute flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law.
The Ministers are deeply concerned about the safety of the civilian activists and urge the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure their immediate release.
The Ministers also call on the international community to fulfill their moral and legal obligations to uphold international law, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for these violations.
Amnesty International has documented ill-treatment and abuse of activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla who had been detained in in October 2025 after the Israeli military intercepted its vessels, including sleep deprivation, denial of drinking water and medical care. In Italy, these abuses against 36 Italian activists are currently being investigated by the Prosecutor in Rome, including on allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.
An SoS appeal is viarl on social media for Australian government ;
Call your MP. Contact the Foreign Minister. Demand protection for Australians and accountability for Israel. Share this. Keep the pressure on.
Australians are on those vessels. The government cannot look away. We demand immediate action: confirm their safety, provide diplomatic protection, and publicly condemn this unlawful act. Silence is a decision. And right now, it enables this to continue. Take action now:
Gur Tsabar, a spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla, described Israel’s boarding of its vessels as “a straight-up attack on unarmed civilian boats in international waters”.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Toronto, Canada, Tsabar said the Israeli operation was taking place “hundreds of miles from Israel” and the flotilla was “surrounded and threatened at gunpoint”.
“This is illegal under international law. Israel has no jurisdiction in these waters. Boarding these boats amounts to illegal detention – potentially kidnapping on the high seas,” Tsabar said.
“It’s critical that all governments act now. Every government has an obligation to protect the more than 400 civilians on board and to uphold international law. Silence in this moment is absolute complicity.”
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Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas, said:
Israel’s action underscores the dangerous consequences of decades of impunity for Israel’s ongoing atrocity crimes against Palestinians, including genocide in the Gaza Strip and apartheid, and its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory.
“It is appalling that activists participating in a peaceful solidarity mission aiming to break Israel’s unlawful blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver medical aid and supplies to people facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis – due to conditions deliberately imposed by Israel – have been arbitrarily detained once again.
“The Israeli navy crossing hundreds of miles at sea just to ensure civilian boats carrying food, baby formula, and medical supplies don’t make it to Palestinians reveals the lengths Israel is prepared to go to in order to maintain its cruel and unlawful 19-year-long blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip.
“Despite the so-called ceasefire in Gaza on 9 October 2025, Israel has only allowed extremely limited supplies to reach a population that the vast majority of whom has been forcibly displaced, and is living in extreme deprivation and amidst complete devastation, crammed in as little as the 40% of the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli army has turned the majority of this part of the occupied territory into a deadly no-go zone for Palestinians.
“There are grave concerns for the safety of the around 175 activists arbitrarily detained and being transported to Israel, after their vessels were boarded in international waters near Greece and Israel jammed their communication channels, severing their ability to coordinate or ask for help.
“The crew of the intercepted vessels must be immediately and unconditionally released. While in custody, the Israeli authorities must ensure that all activists are immediately granted access to consular support, treated humanely and protected from torture and other ill-treatment.
States must urgently support their detained nationals. They must also urgently put in place tangible measure to bring Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza to an end, including by immediately lifting its illegal blockade, and allowing unimpeded humanitarian aid to enter and be distributed across the Gaza Strip.
Third states must stop granting Israel impunity for its atrocity crimes and expedite the adoption of measures to bring Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory to an end, as indicated by the International Court of Justice in 2024.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the activists on the intercepted boats would be taken to Greece.
“In coordination with the Greek government, the civilians who were transferred from the flotilla vessels to the Israeli vessel will be brought ashore in Greece in the coming hours,” Saar wrote on social media, thanking the Greek government “for its willingness to receive the flotilla participants”.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said in a post on social media that the flotilla was “stopped before reaching our area” and Israeli soldiers were acting with “determination dealing with a group of delusional attention-seeking agitators”.
In October, Israel’s military intercepted about 40 boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla as they carried aid to besieged Gaza, arresting more than 450 participants, including the grandson of South African leader Nelson Mandela, Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and European Parliament member Rima Hassan.
