Israeli Navy attacks Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels with around 145 participants in international waters

According to the coalition’s tracker and Adalah — the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel — the Israeli army attacked all nine ships of the mission with around 145 participants, including the flagship Conscience.

"The Israeli occupation commits a war crime again in international waters. We will not stop ... The genocide must be stopped and the siege broken," the International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza said through the US social media company X.

A press release by the Thousand Madleens to Gaza campaign said that within one hour, all nine boats were attacked by the Israeli army in international waters: Abd Elkarim Eid, Alaa Al-Najar, Anas Al-Sharif, Gaza Sunbird, Leïla Khaled, Milad, Soul of My Soul, Um Saad, and Conscience.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on X that the seized ships and passengers had been transferred to a port in Israel. It added that all passengers were safe and in good health and were expected to be deported as soon as possible.

"We confirm that three vessels — Gaza Sunbird, Alaa Al-Najjar, and Anas Al Sharif — have been attacked and illegally intercepted by the Israeli military at 04:34 a.m. (0134GMT), 220 km (around 120 nautical miles) off the coast of Gaza," the coalition said earlier.

A livestream on the coalition’s YouTube channel showed several Israeli soldiers raiding the Gaza Sunbird. The initiative said: "Israeli military has no legal jurisdiction over international waters. Our flotilla poses no harm."

'Never forget us'

Live broadcasts from the flotilla captured announcements from the Israeli military warning that the ships would be “intervened against” if they did not stop. Following the warnings, participants aboard the vessels were seen wearing life jackets and sitting calmly in accordance with prearranged emergency protocols.

Footage showed Israeli navy patrol boats surrounding the ships, while participants were seen throwing their phones into the sea. During a live broadcast from the flotilla’s flagship Conscience, spokesperson Kasim Aktag said: “The ships have surrounded us. Soldiers are approaching to board the ship. Never forget us — keep us on the agenda and protect our unity and solidarity.”

After the announcements, the broadcast was cut off as Israeli soldiers began boarding, and communication with many vessels was lost.

The flotilla’s website, which had been tracking the vessels’ real-time speed and coordinates, also went offline.

$110,000 worth of medical supplies

Footage from the live stream also showed an Israeli military helicopter flying over Conscience. The flotilla’s statement said: “The Conscience ship is currently under attack by an Israeli military helicopter. The vessel is carrying 93 journalists, doctors, and activists.”

The statement added that the ships were unlawfully stopped and were carrying $110,000 worth of medicines, respiratory equipment, ventilators, and nutritional supplies intended for critically needed hospitals in Gaza.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, established in 2010, has launched dozens of missions aimed at delivering aid and drawing global attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Israel-besieged Gaza Strip.

Behesti Ismail Songur, the head of the Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association and Turkish representative of the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition, told Anadolu that Conscience carried enough doctors and medical supplies to operate at least three hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

“These include cardiologists, general surgeons, and obstetricians, and Israel has now prevented these doctors from entering Gaza,” Songur said.

Israel’s Channel 12 also reported that the Israeli navy attacked nine ships in the Gaza flotilla, detained about 150 people, and towed the vessels toward Ashdod Port.

Famine in Gaza

The latest convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week, part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, and detained more than 450 activists on board. Most of them have been deported.

Israel, as the occupying power, has also previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo, and deported the activists on board.

It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and further tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.

Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable. Negotiations to end the war, according to a 20-point plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump, are underway in Egypt.