The Gaza-bound Flotilla reports having been intercepted by Israeli ships

International Editorial.- The Global Sumud Flotilla, which seeks to break the naval blockade of Israel to Gaza, denounced having been intercepted by vessels that identified themselves as Israeli while sailing near the coasts of Greece. "Military boats approached our ships, identifying themselves as Israelis, pointing lasers and semi-automatic weapons at us and ordering the participants to go to the front of the boats and get on their knees," explained the Flotilla on its X account. The organization also reported that the vessels' communications were being intercepted.  The arrival of the Israeli ships takes place in the waters separating the Greek peninsula from the Peloponnese and the island of Crete, according to the Flotilla's own tracker, about a hundred kilometers (54 nautical miles) from the Cretan coast.

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The Flotilla spread on X a message broadcast by radio from the military vessels to those of the flotilla, where someone is heard identifying themselves as "IDF", the acronym for the Israel Defense Forces. "They are obligated to change their course (…) Any attempt to reach Gaza puts their safety at risk and leaves the IDF with no other option but to take all measures at our disposal to enforce the legal naval blockade" to the Strip, says the radio broadcast. Also add that if the Flotilla "keeps trying to break the blockade, we will stop your ships and take them".

The Journey

The Israeli Army has not officially confirmed that it is carrying out this operation, although several local media outlets report it as such and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a message on X showing images supposedly of the loading of the Flotilla's vessels, as if they had already boarded some ship.

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"This is the 'medical aid' found in the deceptive advertising flotilla: condoms and drugs," wrote the Tel Aviv Foreign Ministry account, accompanying the message with a video and several plastic envelopes. A total of 58 ships are part of the Global Sumud, which set sail last Sunday from the Italian port of Augusta (south), with the plan to cross Greek waters to reach the coasts of Turkey with the final goal of reaching the Gaza Strip and delivering humanitarian aid there. According to the organizers, this is "the largest coordinated civil maritime mobilization of the mission to date." In October 2025, this initiative had already organized a voyage with more than 50 ships, which were being intercepted as they approached Israel.