The Israeli navy intervened in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set out to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, in the open waters of the Mediterranean. The Global Sumud Flotilla issued a written statement regarding the intervention. The statement noted that the Israeli army destroyed the engines and navigation systems of the boats in the Flotilla and that activists were abandoned at sea, with contact lost with 18 boats.

 

The statement reads: “Tonight, the world is witnessing the export of the Israeli military’s doctrine of engineered abandonment. In a violent raid in international waters, Israeli naval forces have intercepted, boarded, and systematically disabled various boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

 

After smashing engines and destroying navigation arrays, the military retreated—intentionally leaving hundreds of civilians stranded on powerless, broken vessels directly in the path of a massive approaching storm. Furthermore, communications with multiple vessels have been jammed, severing their ability to coordinate or signal for help. 

 

While flotilla participants face a calculated death trap at sea, the people of Gaza remain the primary targets of a relentless, years-long campaign of starvation and slaughter. The logic being deployed tonight is identical: the Israeli state creates the conditions for death, sabotages the means of survival, and then waits for ‘nature’ or ‘circumstance’ to finish the job.”

 

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced on its social media account that about 175 activists on the boats were stopped by the Israeli navy and are being taken to Israel.

 

The Israeli Army Radio, in its broadcast on the matter, said that 7 boats were “seized.” The broadcast stated that Israel intervened with the fleet in the Mediterranean, near a point off the coast of Greece's Crete Island.