By SUZAN FRASER and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Israeli military intercepted Monday boats off the coast of Cyprus, part of the latest wave of flotilla activists attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.
More than 50 vessels departed from the port in Marmaris, Turkey, last week in what the organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla described as the final leg of their planned journey to Gaza’s shores.
The organization’s livestream on Monday showed activists aboard several vessels putting on life jackets and raising their hands before a boat carrying Israeli troops approached. Wearing tactical gear, they boarded the ship, and the livestream abruptly ended. Many of the ships are currently off the coast of Cyprus.
Other footage showed Israeli forces on speedboats approaching and instructing the activists to move to the front of the boat. At least 17 boats were intercepted in the first three hours of the operation, according to Global Sumud Flotilla’s tracker.
Israeli troops boarded the flotilla vessels in broad daylight
Organizers said the boats were intercepted 250 nautical miles from the shores of Gaza. Unlike previous interceptions, which mostly took place under the cover of night, the Israeli military boarded the boats in broad daylight.
Israel has maintained a blockade over Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007, a year after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections. The blockade restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza. Egypt has also occasionally closed the Rafah crossing, which, before the current war, was the only border crossing not under Israel’s control.
Critics consider it collective punishment.
The flotilla organizers said they expect the activists to be taken to the port of Ashdod, in southern Israel. Activists on previous flotillas were brought to the same port, where some were processed and immediately deported, while others requested a trial and were detained.
Israel accuses flotilla of being a provocation as Turkey condemns attack
An hour prior to the interception, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called on activists to “change course and turn back immediately.”
“Once again, a provocation for the sake of provocation: another so-called “humanitarian aid flotilla” with no humanitarian aid,” the Foreign Ministry posted on X.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the ongoing operation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, watching the operation from the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, commended the soldiers for “thwarting a malicious plan designed to break the isolation we are imposing on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.”
Netanyahu was supposed to be in court on Monday to testify in his ongoing corruption trial, but requested a cancellation due to all-day security meetings.
Hamas has condemned Israel’s attack on the flotilla as a “full-fledged crime of piracy.” The militant group called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its blockade of Gaza.
Turkey echoed Hamas’ piracy accusation and called on Israel to immediately halt the operation and release the flotilla participants.
“Israel’s attacks and intimidation policies will in no way prevent the international community’s pursuit of justice or its solidarity with the Palestinian people,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Turkey was working to secure the safe return of its own citizens taking part in the flotilla, the ministry added.
Around 20 boats from the flotilla were intercepted last month
On April 30, Israeli forces intercepted more than 20 boats from a flotilla near the southern Greek island of Crete, initially holding about 175 activists. Israeli officials said they had to act early because of the high number of boats involved.
Israel took two of the activists — a Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian origin, Saif Abukeshek, and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila — back to Israel, where they were interrogated and detained for several days. The activists accused Israeli forces of torture, which Israel denied. Brazil and Spain condemned Israel for “kidnapping” their citizens. The two were deported from Israel after about a week in detention.
Organizers say the latest efforts involved a regrouped fleet joined by additional boats. Nearly 500 activists from 45 countries were taking part.
Previous flotillas failed to reach Gaza
The activists’ attempt comes less than a year after Israeli authorities foiled a previous effort by the group to reach Gaza, which involved about 50 vessels and around 500 activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela and several European lawmakers.
Israel arrested, detained and later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities abused them while in detention. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.
The Israeli action raised questions about what any nation can legally do to enforce a blockade in international waters. Several world leaders and human rights groups have condemned Israel, saying it violated international law.
Previous efforts to breach the blockade have also failed. In 2010, Israeli commandos raided the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara, which had been participating in an aid flotilla attempting to reach Gaza. Nine Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American on board were killed. The last time an activist boat succeeded in reaching Gaza was in 2008.
Flotilla aims to draw attention to the situation in Gaza
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, and the top diplomat overseeing it says it has stalled because of the deadlock over disarming Hamas. Both sides have traded accusations of violations. Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire with more than 850 people killed in the Palestinian territory since the ceasefire went into effect in October, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. The ministry says Israel’s retaliatory strikes in the war have devastated the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 72,700 people.
The flotillas have been criticized for bringing minute amounts of aid on tiny ships. The Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid to Gaza claims that sufficient aid is entering Gaza, with around 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entering Gaza daily, similar to prewar levels.
Nonetheless, around 2 million Gaza residents are still living with severe shortages of housing, food and medicine.
Flotilla organizers have said they hope their latest attempt to reach Gaza will help highlight the living conditions endured by Palestinians in the territory, particularly as global attention has shifted its focus to the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran.
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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo.