Reuters: Israeli forces have intercepted a Gaza aid flotilla comprising around 40 boats carrying aid and foreign activists including Swedish campaigner Greta to Gaza,triggering international condemnation and protests on Thursday.
Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats, verified by Reuters, showed Israeli soldiers sporting helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled together in life vests with their hands up.
A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Sweden’s Thunberg, the most prominent passengers of the flotilla, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers
According to a tracker on the organiser, Global Sumud Flotilla’s website, 40 boats were listed as “intercepted” or “assumed intercepted”. Another two were said to be “sailing” but one of those appeared to be stationary.
Those vessels intercepted and those on board were expected to be taken initially to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where one ship was seen arriving by a Reuters witness.
“All the passengers are safe and in good health. They are making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe,” the Israeli foreign ministry said on X.
“One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented,” it added.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa joined international condemnation of Israel’s move, calling it a “grave offence” against “global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza”.
Ramaphosa says the interception in international waters reinforced Israel’s continued violation of international law and called on Israel to immediately release South Africans who were on the flotilla, including former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela.
The activists are expected to be transferred to the immigration authority upon arrival in Ashdod, from where they will be moved to Ketziot Prison in southern Israel before they are deported, said Suhad Bishara, the director at Adalah, a human rights organisation and legal centre in Israel.
