Israeli interception of anti-blockade flotilla sparks global fury
‘Act of terror’: Iran blasts Israel’s attack on humanitarian vessels
Israeli navy attacked on Thursday an aid flotilla of 42 vessels sailing toward the Gaza Strip, intercepting them and detaining activists on board.
The activists, including European lawmakers, were taking part in a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza when their vessels were intercepted, drawing widespread condemnation and sparking protests around the world.
Hundreds of Israeli police officers earlier in the day were deployed to the southern port of Ashdod in the Israeli-occupied territories to process more than 450 international activists from 46 countries detained by the regime’s naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Global Sumud Flotilla was the largest yet to try to break the blockade, and it comes at a time of growing criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, where its aggression has laid waste to wide swaths of territory and killed tens of thousands of people.
Activists had said they hoped that the sheer number of boats would make it more difficult for Israeli authorities to intercept them all, but Israel’s foreign ministry declared the operation over on Thursday afternoon.
Pro-flotilla rallies
Thousands of people supporting the flotilla took to the streets in several major world cities after news of the interception broke to decry the Israeli operation and the ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip. Italy’s largest union called for a one-day general strike on Friday.
While the majority of marches were peaceful, clashes erupted between police and pro-Palestinian protestors in Paris and in Barcelona, Spain.
The flotilla was carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Its main goal, the activists said, remained “to break Israel’s illegal siege and end the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Israel has come under intense criticism for how much aid it lets into Gaza and how it distributes the goods.
Israel has maintained varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas came to power in 2007.
After the war started in 2023, Israel tightened the blockade but eased up later under US pressure. In March, it sealed the territory off from all food, medicine and other goods for 2 ½ months, contributing to Gaza’s slide into famine.
The flotilla said it wanted to establish a humanitarian corridor by sea, given the little aid that was reaching Gaza by land.
Israel’s onslaught on Gaza has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Live broadcasts from the activists showed Israeli boats approaching their vessels, spraying them with water cannons and flashing bright lights before troops boarded the flotilla.
Global condemnations
Iran, Turkey, Colombia, Pakistan and others condemned Israel’s interception of the aid flotilla.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei in a statement on Thursday strongly condemned the Israeli move, describing it as a “blatant violation of international principles” and “an act of terror.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry described the interception as an “act of terrorism” and a severe breach of international law in a statement late Wednesday.
The detention of activists was part of Israel’s “ongoing aggression,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said, adding that Israel’s blockade of Gaza had caused “immense suffering” for more than two million Palestinians in the strip.