The latest flotilla set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy [Getty]
Israel’s army arrested around 175 activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters off Greece, the Israeli foreign ministry and the flotilla’s organisers said on Thursday.
The ministry said in a statement it had intercepted more than 20 boats, and released a video of the activists being taken away on an Israeli navy ship.
The organisers of the latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza had announced shortly beforehand that their boats were surrounded by Israeli military ships while off the coast of the Greek island of Crete.
“At the time of publishing this statement (06:30 Paris time, 04:30 GMT), at least 22 of the flotilla’s 58 boats have been stormed by Israeli forces in complete violation of international law,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement.
The flotilla set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy.
Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the flotilla said its boats had been “illegally surrounded” by Israeli vessels.
The remaining boats in the flotilla are currently near Crete, according to the organisation’s live tracking on its website.
‘Lasers and assault weapons’
“Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel’, pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons, ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,” the organisation had said.
“Boat communications are being jammed and a SOS was issued.”
In the summer and autumn of 2025, a first voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla across the Mediterranean towards Gaza drew worldwide attention.
The boats in that flotilla were intercepted by Israel off the coasts of Egypt and the Gaza Strip in early October.
The Israeli operation, described as illegal by the organisers and by Amnesty International, drew international condemnation.
Crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested and then expelled by Israel.
Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.
The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, with Israel tightening its siege on Gaza with the beginning of its October 2023 war on the enclave.
A fragile ceasefire was reached last October after two years of devastating conflict.
Israel has killed more than 72,000 people in the Palestinian territory since October 2023, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
