BREAKING: Israel Illegally Boards Humanitarian Flotilla Heading to Gaza
Participants on the Global Sumud Flotilla are being detained by the Israeli military and taken into custody.
The Israeli military has begun intercepting and illegally boarding boats participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla en route to the Gaza Strip—the largest effort yet to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza. Among the parliamentarians, lawyers, activists and journalists taking part in the flotilla is Drop Site News editor Alex Colston, who has been reporting live on the progress of the flotilla from the Sirius-Haifa boat. The flotilla consists of over 40 boats, with over 500 participants from dozens of countries around the world, attempting to deliver humanitarian aid.
On Wednesday night, the Sirius was contacted by an official of the Israeli navy who informed passengers that they were violating a “lawful blockade” and stated that if the boats persisted on their course towards Gaza participants would be arrested and tried under Israeli law. They were under 90 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza. According to reporters documenting the flotilla from other ships, the Sirius was boarded shortly after by Israeli troops. As part of security protocols, Colston and other participants were instructed to throw their phones overboard before interception.
As of midnight Gaza time (5 p.m. Eastern), six boats from the flotilla have been reported to be intercepted and boarded by the Israeli navy. The flotilla is roughly 60 nautical miles from its destination in Gaza, and other ships are continuing to proceed to their final destination despite the interceptions. Several ships participating in the flotilla have reported being hit with water cannons, chemical sprays, or being surrounded by unidentified ships believed to be under the command of the Israeli navy.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video of activist Greta Thunberg, who was also detained after sailing on a previous flotilla to Gaza this June, being arrested on X: “Already several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port. Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.”
In response to the attack on the flotilla, Italy’s two largest labor unions the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) and the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), announced a nationwide general strike for Friday covering all public and private sectors. In a joint statement, the unions called the assault “a crime against unarmed people” and warned it was also “an attack on Italy’s constitutional order” as the flotilla contained Italian citizens. The union statement also denounced the Italian government for abandoning Italian workers and volunteers “in free international waters, in violation of our constitutional principles.”
On Wednesday night, protests broke out in Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona, and other European cities to denounce the Israeli attack on the flotilla. The Colombian government led by president Gustavo Petro has also announced that it is expelling Israeli diplomatic officials in protest over the move.
In a statement on X, Petro said that, “Two Colombian citizens have been detained in international waters who were engaged in human solidarity activities with Palestine,” adding that, if the news is verified, “I invite international lawyers to place themselves at the service of Colombia, alongside our lawyers. The free trade agreement with Israel is denounced immediately. The entire diplomatic delegation of Israel in Colombia leaves.”
Naval ships from Spain and Italy escorted the flotilla for the past few days from Greek waters before pulling back from the flotilla at the so-called “orange line.” Several ships had been attacked by drones in an apparent attempt to intimidate the nonviolent activists to continue sailing toward Gaza.
The livestream feeds for several more ships in the flotilla, yet to be boarded by Israel, is still available here:
What the governments refuse to do, what the old people who control governments refuse to take seriously, these courageously young people are doing and the movement will grow. I congratulate them for their ethics and courage. Where did this "Thou shal not kill" thing go? Doesn't Judeo Christianity have some rule about not killing? If so, we in the US seem to be ignoring it as is Israel and all others who accept and normalize the genocide.
Wish the Italian and Spanish military escorts showed a little back bone and assisted the flotilla to Gazaian shores. What a hold the entho supremist apartheid state of Israel holds over western fascist nations that once were democracies but ain't no more. Comrades we must stop this as "we the people":
Refuse Fascism
Oppose Oppression