GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said Thursday morning that Israeli naval forces hijacked and disabled several of its vessels in international waters, leaving hundreds of activists stranded at sea as a storm approached.
In social media remarks, GSF said Israeli forces “intercepted, boarded, and systematically disabled” multiple boats taking part in the flotilla.
“After smashing engines and destroying navigation arrays, the military retreated, intentionally leaving hundreds of civilians stranded on powerless, broken vessels directly in the path of a massive approaching storm,” GSF said.
“Communications with multiple vessels have been jammed, severing their ability to coordinate or signal for help,” the flotilla added.
The Israeli occupation army said its navy intercepted 21 of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s 58 vessels overnight near the Greek island of Crete, hundreds of nautical miles from Israel.
The other boats have been warned to change course, or they will also be intercepted, according to the army radio.
The Times of Israel news website said that the Israeli navy detained some 175 activists from the flotilla that was sailing to the Gaza Strip to challenge the blockade on Gaza.
Rana Hamida, spokeswoman for the flotilla and a member of its steering committee, said that Israeli forces hijacked several of the flotilla’s ships to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Hamida said the flotilla’s ships are fully committed to international law, carrying only essential food and medical aid.
Gur Tsabar, another spokesperson for the flotilla, described Israel’s boarding of its vessels as “a straight-up attack on unarmed civilian boats in international waters.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera satellite channel from Toronto, Canada, Tsabar said the sea assault was taking place “hundreds of miles from Israel,” with aid boats being “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 over 400 civilians on board and to uphold international law. Silence in this moment is absolute complicity,” he stressed.
More than 50 vessels carrying activists from multiple countries set sail from Italy on Sunday towards the Gaza Strip in what organizers said was the largest humanitarian aid flotilla attempting to reach the war-torn Palestinian territory, where Israel’s genocidal war has killed over 72,599 people and injured 172,411.
Last October, Israel’s army intercepted some 40 boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla as they carried aid to besieged Gaza, kidnaping more than 450 participants, including the grandson of South African leader Nelson Mandela, Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, and European parliament member Rima Hassan.
Detained and taken to Israel, several of the flotilla activists reported their exposure to physical and psychological abuse while in Israeli custody. Israel later expelled the detained crew members and activists.
