Israel’s navy intercepted the large pro-Palestine Global Sumud Flotilla’s vessels overnight on Thursday, October 1st, as they attempted to breach the naval blockade of Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed ‘selfie yacht’ activist Greta Thunberg was in custody and would be deported along with the other participants in the stunt. French politician Marie Mesmeur and Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan also said their boats were stopped.
Footage from the interception showed some activists throwing phones into the sea as Israeli soldiers approached. An Israeli naval officer warned the flotilla via radio before the arrests “You are approaching a blockaded zone. If you wish to deliver aid to Gaza, go to the Port of Ashdod for inspection.”
Flotilla organizers condemned the operation, calling it “an illegal attack” on humanitarians. Israel rejected this claim, accusing the activists of seeking provocation rather than delivering aid. Israeli spokesman Oren Marmorstein highlighted that offers to safely transfer supplies through Ashkelon or Cyprus had been rejected by organizers.
“They said no. Do you know why? Because they’re not interested in aid—they’re interested in provocation. We don’t want anyone to be in danger.”
The interception led to arrests and detentions, sparking international criticism of Israel’s response. Italy confirmed on Thursday, October 2nd, that Israel had detained 22 Italians from the flotilla. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni repeated her criticism of the mission, saying at a European Union meeting in Denmark:
“Obviously we will do everything we can to ensure these people can return to Italy as soon as possible … I continue to believe that all this brings no benefit to the Palestinian people.”
Despite continued international criticism, Israel maintained that its interception of the flotilla was a security necessity, supported by what it described as undeniable evidence of Hamas’s control.
Israel has revealed that several participants in the flotilla—including Greta Thunberg—to Hamas, citing documents recovered from terrorists in Gaza, and defended the naval action as a necessary security measure.
The collection of documents found in the Gaza Strip, released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, indicated that Hamas was directly funding and managing the ‘aid’ mission. The project appears to have been part of a series of provocations against Israel under the guise of activism, funded and orchestrated by a sophisticated international network run by Hamas.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Hamas’s external operations were carried out through the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), designated by Israel as a terrorist organization in 2021.
The activists’ lawyers have been granted entry to the Israeli Adalah port, where the immigration proceedings will take place. Israel at first denied entry for the legal team and is said to have started some formal procedures without lawyers present, but ultimately ended up allowing the lawyers in before starting the cases of the activists.
