Over 180 activists detained in Israeli attack on Gaza aid flotilla in international waters, organizer says

The Israeli army attacked a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and detained more than 180 activists in international waters, 500 nautical miles (926 kilometers) off the Palestinian enclave, the head of the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza, which organized the voyage, said Thursday.

“The Global Sumud and Freedom Flotilla was subjected to a fully-fledged act of piracy by the army of the Zionist entity in the open sea, in international waters and at a distance of 500 nautical miles from the occupied Palestinian territories and from the Gaza Strip,” Youssef Ajisa told Anadolu.

He accused Israel of staging the raid at night “to cover up the media aspect of this brutal and barbaric act.”

“More than 180 activists were detained and taken to Ashdod port in the occupied territories,” he added.

Ajisa said the attack shows that Israel “no longer recognizes laws, international agreements, or the very meaning of international institutions.”

“The flotilla is historic in terms of numbers and participants, with more than 1,000 participants and supporters,” he said.

He added that the flotilla vessels were carrying humanitarian supplies, including “relief aid, medicines, infant formula, and humanitarian assistance for our brothers in the Gaza Strip, which remains under blockade and continues to face a genocide by the Israeli army.”

“The Israeli army called on activists to return and deliver aid through known corridors and entry points, forgetting that it closes all crossings, including the Rafah land crossing, and separating Gaza from the Arab and Islamic world,” he said.

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Ajisa said the committee considers the Israeli attack “a full-fledged crime,” condemning what he described as “the shocking silence of international institutions and governments, especially Western ones.”

“It was expected that the Greek government would move its fleets and ships to rescue them,” he said.

“We call on the international community to assume its role and open the maritime corridor for these ships and this flotilla to deliver aid and break the unjust, immoral and illegal blockade on Gaza,” Ajisa said.

In a separate statement, the committee said Israeli forces acted according to a doctrine of “systematic abandonment,” carrying out “violent raids in international waters” during which they “intercepted, boarded and deliberately disabled several vessels.”

After “destroying engines and navigation systems,” Israeli forces withdrew, “leaving hundreds of civilians stranded aboard damaged boats, without power, and on the path of a sea storm, in a scene amounting to deliberate endangerment of life,” it added.

The committee accused Israeli forces of “deliberately jamming communications between ships,” disrupting coordination and preventing distress calls, “which exacerbated the danger and placed participants in a catastrophic scenario at sea.”​​​​​​​

It denounced the Israeli raid as “a flagrant violation of international law and freedom of navigation, clearly amounting to an act of organized maritime piracy.”

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