Above photo: File photo from the Global Sumud Flotilla. Gulcin Bekar/Global Sumud Flotilla.
Following Israel’s interception of over 40 of its vessels.
Following Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, organizers have vowed that they will continue “to sail until Gaza is free.” They’ve already announced that the next mission will send a thousand ships to Gaza.
Contact has been lost with all but two of the over 40 vessels participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla’s humanitarian mission to break the siege on Gaza, organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
As of this writing, the flotilla’s live tracker showed that 19 vessels were presumed intercepted by Israeli marine forces in international waters, while an additional 21 were confirmed to be intercepted, and three were reported to still be sailing. One of them, the Mikono Al-Bireh vessel, appeared to be in Palestinian waters a few miles away from the coast of Gaza, while the Marinette appeared further away in international waters. Both have lost contact.
The flotilla’s “motherships,” which provide legal observation, appeared to have sailed north away from Gaza’s coast.
The Israeli foreign ministry claimed that none of the vessels entered Gaza’s waters and that its marines intercepted 42 vessels. The interception started on Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. local time, when Israeli military boats approached the most advanced vessels in the flotilla before soldiers boarded the flagship Alma. Activists on board the other ships continued to livestream for several hours, reporting that Israeli forces had sprayed large quantities of water into the vessels.
Israeli forces also attacked the flotilla’s vessels with skunk water, while others were stopped by chain-like barriers in international waters, the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement on Thursday. Lawyers from the Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, who represent the flotilla’s volunteers, have not been briefed on whether the detained volunteers will be taken to the port of Ashdod, where they are expected to be interrogated before being deported or placed in detention, the statement added.
Contrary to previous flotilla missions to Gaza, the Israeli army did not issue any statements. Instead, the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed in a statement that Israel intercepted the flotilla and that none of the vessels made it into the blockade zone. The ministry added that the detained volunteers were “safe and in good health,” while repeatedly accusing the flotilla of being linked to Hamas.
Later on Thursday, the ministry claimed that Israeli authorities informed Adalah lawyers of the whereabouts of the flotilla volunteers. Adalah said in a press statement to journalists that its lawyers received phone calls from detained volunteers, who told them that Israeli authorities began conducting “hearings” for them without informing their legal representatives.
Shortly after the interception began late Wednesday night, the spokesperson of the Sumud Flotilla, Khaldiya Abu Baker, told Al Jazeera that the volunteers had been instructed not to resist violently but not to cooperate with Israeli soldiers or sign statements admitting that they sailed to Gaza illegally with a pledge not to return. Abu Baker added that Israel’s interception of the volunteers either in international waters or in Gaza’s waters (which is a Palestinian maritime space) qualifies their detention as an abduction.
Global Protests Break Out
Protests broke out across Europe and the Middle East following the Israeli interception of the Sumud flotilla, including in Berlin, Rome, Brussels, Tunis, Istanbul, Madrid, and Barcelona. Protesters have demanded the release of the volunteers and the end of the Israeli genocide and illegal siege on Gaza. Trade unions and other grassroots groups called for strikes and further protests in Italy and Spain next weekend. The Global Sumud Flotilla’s website indicates that over 3 million emails have been sent by supporters to their elected representatives.
On the diplomatic front, Colombia recalled its remaining diplomatic mission members from Israel in protest against the interception of the flotilla. Colombia had cut diplomatic ties with Israel over its genocide in Gaza last year, but continued to have a consular mission in Tel Aviv. Spain, for its part, summoned the head of the Israeli mission in Madrid to demand “clarifications” over the interception of the Sumud flotilla. The UK also expressed “concern” over the interception, while Greece and Australia stated that they were following the status of the detained volunteers.
Both Spain and Italy had dispatched ships to accompany the flotilla in previous weeks, including a Spanish frigate. The Italian government instructed the Sumud flotilla to hand over the humanitarian aid intended for Gaza and to call off its mission. The Italian ship turned back from accompanying the flotilla after its members refused to comply. The Spanish frigate also stopped accompanying the flotilla once it approached the Israeli-imposed blockade perimeter.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, comprising more than 40 vessels and approximately 500 volunteers, is the largest mission to attempt to break the siege of Gaza since the first flotilla set sail for Gaza in 2008. During the current Israeli war on Gaza, two missions preceded the Sumud flotilla — the Madleen boat, which carried 12 volunteers, and the Handala boat, which carried 21 volunteers.
The Sumud flotilla comes at a critical moment as international pressure against Israel’s genocide mounts and the U.S. threatens to let Israel “finish the job” if Hamas doesn’t accept Trump’s plan to end the war. It also comes as Israeli forces have completely sealed off Gaza City, warning that all Palestinians who remain will be considered “terrorists or supporters of terror.” As of this writing, an estimated 500,000 people remain in the city.
Meanwhile, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition stated shortly after the interception that the Sumud Flotilla would continue “to sail until Gaza is free.” The coalition has already announced its next mission: “Thousand Madleens To Gaza.”
