Israel intercepts Gaza aid flotilla in international waters off Greece, detaining dozens
Organisers accuse Israel of ‘abduction’ after boats are seized nearly 1,000km from the Palestinian enclave
Israeli forces near the southern Greek island of Crete intercepted more than 20 boats from a flotilla of several dozen seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and planned to transport about 175 detained activists to Greece on Thursday, Israeli authorities said.
Activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla said Israeli forces stormed their vessels overnight, smashing engines and detaining some of those on board while they were sailing in international waters near Greece, hundreds of kilometres from Gaza and Israel.
Israel officials said they needed to take early action against the flotilla before it reached Israeli waters because of the high number of boats involved.
The flotilla set sail earlier this month from Barcelona, Spain. Organizers have said more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world would be participating, with more vessels joining the original boats as the flotilla sailed east across the Mediterranean.
Flotilla organisers condemned Israel’s interception as “a dangerous and unprecedented escalation”, describing it in a news release as “the abduction of civilians in the middle of the Mediterranean, over 600 miles from Gaza, in full view of the world”.
In a separate statement late Thursday, organisers said 31 of the 53 vessels had reached safe waters and would continue their attempts to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”.