The Israeli military has again taken action against the international Gaza aid flotilla, a live video transmission by the Global Sumud Flotilla group showed on Monday.
The video showed the Israeli Navy boarding a boat carrying activists. According to its own tracker, the flotilla was travelling west of Cyprus.
The organizers described it as an “attack” by Israel on their boats, which took place around 250 nautical miles from Gaza.
Israel: Activists from Turkish violent groups on board
The Israeli news portal ynet reported that the navy had taken control of boats in the aid flotilla. The activists on board were to be arrested and taken to a navy vessel housing a “floating prison.” From there, they were to be taken to the Israeli port city of Ashdod. In the past, international activists have always been deported back to their home countries after a while.
In a post on the X platform, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said among the activists were "two violent Turkish groups" one of which has been "designated as a terrorist organization."
"The purpose of this provocation is to serve Hamas, to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm, and to obstruct progress on President Trump’s peace plan," the ministry wrote, vowing to "not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade of Gaza."
It called on "all participants in this provocation to change course and turn back immediately."
Turkey condemns Israel's actions
The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel’s actions, describing them as a new “act of piracy.” Israel must release the detained participants immediately, the ministry demanded.
Ankara announced that it would take the necessary measures to ensure that its citizens could return safely to their home country.
New attempt after first stop
Two weeks after it was first stopped by Israel's Navy, the Global Sumud Flotilla set off for Gaza again last Thursday.
It set sail from the Turkish port of Marmaris. Activists from 40 countries were travelling on more than 50 ships.
The pro-Palestinian activists were looking to again try to break through the Israeli naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, in place since 2007 and also supported by Egypt, and bring aid supplies to the conflict region.
Israel's Navy had already intercepted more than 20 ships belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters off Crete on April 30 and said it had detained 175 people.
Greece took in most of them and organized their return to their countries of origin. Two activists were taken to Israel but deported after a little more than a week.
In the meantime, the protest regrouped in Turkey.
Dispute over international law
Several EU countries, including Germany, expressed doubts about the compatibility of the interception of the vessels in international waters with international law.
Israel stressed that the action against the activists was in line with international law. The Jewish state accuses some activists of having links to Hamas.
