The Israeli navy boards the Gaza flotilla in international waters near Cyprus
Soldiers in speedboats assault the 54 boats, on which 460 activists sail
BarcelonaThe Israeli army has intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla for the second time, the international civilian initiative that denounces the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Shortly after ten in the morning this Monday, soldiers on board speedboats stormed about thirty humanitarian ships when they were about 250 miles from the coast of Gaza, in international waters. This is an area within the zone where Cyprus is responsible for rescuing any vessel in distress and Israel has no jurisdiction there. The solidarity initiative involves 54 boats with 460 activists, from 44 different nationalities, including about twenty Catalans, and specialized teams in medicine and reconstruction.
The organization recalled that this is a non-violent humanitarian mission, and has called on governments to stop "these illegal acts of piracy that aim to maintain Israel's genocidal siege of Gaza". The participants, despite the interference of communication and radio systems, had time to show some images of the Israeli soldiers approaching them at high speed before being intercepted and boarded.
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The group had set sail again from Turkey after The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has confirmed that around 45 Spaniards were traveling on board the flotilla. Of these, between ten and twenty would have been detained by the Israeli authorities, he said. The minister explained that this morning he summoned the Israeli chargé d'affaires, Dana Erlich, to convey "a formal and energetic protest" for this new operation, which constitutes " a new violation of international law".
What took place this Monday is the largest interception operation carried out by the Israeli navy in its history. The 28 flotillas organized until now, five of which managed to reach Gaza in 2008, had never gathered so many vessels. The current one had been expanded after the first assault, in which soldiers rendered up to 22 ships unusable and adrift. For the first time, the army has also decided to initiate the boarding early in the morning, in broad daylight and not at night as was usual. The interception of about twenty ships with a hundred activists has been confirmed by three in the afternoon, and the operation continues.
The first assault
The group had sailed again from Turkey after suffering another attack on April 29, near the coast of the Greek island of Crete, when the Israeli navy boarded them at sea, and 180 crew members were detained and transferred to a prison ship for 40 hours. The operation of the assault was the same. Afterwards, they were handed over to the Greek authorities, all except the visible faces of the movement, the Catalan-Palestinian, Saif Abukeshek, and the Brazilian, Thiago Avila, who were transferred to Israel and detained in a prison for ten days until they were released, even though the Israeli government had accused them of terrorism.
The legal teams of the flotilla then filed several complaints in European and international courts for violation of international law. The participants denounced mistreatment and torture while under Israeli custody.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who this Monday once again secured a suspension of the hearing in the corruption case against him – personally traveled to the naval command in the town of Kirya, accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, to congratulate those responsible for the operation: "You are doing a great job and neutralizing a malicious plan designed to break the isolation we are imposing on Hamas terrorists in Gaza," he said in a statement. And he added: "The water looks beautiful, I'd love to be there.
According to the Israeli press, the soldiers forced the activists to board a prison ship, as happened in the interception in April. Some media outlets report that the Israeli government has not yet decided which country the detainees will be deported to, while others say they will be taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod to be tried. In the April assault, they were handed over to the Greek authorities. In this case, Cyprus is the closest to the interception point. Both Greece and Cyprus signed a military cooperation agreement with Israel in December 2025.
Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the intervention, just as the executives of Spain and Brazil did last time. The Israeli government had ordered the vessels to turn back an hour before the assault.
In parallel, the Global Sumud Flotilla had organized a land convoy from Mauritania to the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza with Egypt, but it has been detained in Libya. It warns that "the consecutive attack on both the maritime and land components of the mission makes it clear that the illegal siege on Gaza has expanded to become a global architecture of violence, occupation, and growing impunity."