Israeli military stops nearly all boats in aid flotilla, sparking global protests

(Reuters) -Israel faced international condemnation and protests on Thursday after its military intercepted almost all of about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and took captive more than 450 foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats showed armed Israeli soldiers in helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled in life vests with their hands up.

A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Thunberg, the most prominent of the passengers, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in cities across Europe as well as in Karachi, Buenos Aires and Mexico City to protest Israel's capturing of the activists two years into its assault on Gaza. Italian unions called a general strike for Friday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the organiser of the voyage, said on X that more than 450 volunteers had been detained. Earlier it said some of them were transferred to one large cargo vessel before being taken ashore.

One boat, the Marinette, was "still sailing strong," flotilla organizers said on a live video stream that showed the crew piloting the boat. Organizers said the Marinette was about 80 nautical miles from Gaza on Thursday night, and about 10 nautical miles from where Israel began intercepting other boats in the flotilla.

FLOTILLA MEMBERS COULD BE EXPELLED NEXT WEEK

Thunberg, 22, best known for her environmental protests, had pre-recorded a video that was released on her behalf after her ship was boarded.

"If you are watching this video, I have been abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces," she said. "Our humanitarian mission was non-violent and abiding by international law."

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he expected the members of the flotilla to be expelled from Israel on Monday and Tuesday and sent to European capitals on charter flights.

The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement it was taking all the people it had captured from the flotilla ashore at Ashdod, and that all were "safe and in good health."

"One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance," the ministry said. "If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented."

TURKEY CONDEMNS 'THUGGERY' DIRECTED AT FLOTILLA

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticised Israeli aggression, saying it showed Israel's government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.

"I condemn the thuggery directed at the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set out to draw attention to the barbarity of children dying of hunger in Gaza and to deliver humanitarian aid to the oppressed Palestinians,” he said in a speech to officials from his AK Party in the capital Ankara.

The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged Israel to immediately release South Africans who were on the flotilla, including former President Nelson Mandela's grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela.

The activists were expected to be transferred to the immigration authority upon arrival in Ashdod, from where they will be moved to Ketziot Prison in southern Israel before they are deported, said Suhad Bishara, the director at Adalah, a human rights organisation and legal centre in Israel.

HIGH PROFILE OPPOSITION TO GAZA BLOCKADE

The flotilla, which set sail in late August, was transporting medicine and food to Gaza and consisted of more than 40 civilian vessels with parliamentarians, lawyers and activists in a high-profile display of opposition to Israel's blockade of Gaza, which many have said amounts to violations of the Genocide Convention.

Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt. Israel is defending itself against charges of genocide in the International Court of Justice and broader global opprobrium, arguing its actions have been in self-defense.

As the flotilla sailed across the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.

HAMAS EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR ACTIVISTS

Israel's navy had previously warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade, and asked organisers to change course. It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza.

The flotilla is the latest seaborne attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war.

In a statement, Hamas, which governs Gaza, expressed support for the activists and called Israel's interception of the flotilla a "criminal act", calling for public protests to condemn Israel.

The U.S. and Israel announced a new proposal to end the conflict this week that includes Hamas surrendering. U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he would temporarily oversee governance of Gaza under his plan, gave Hamas a few days to respond, and warned of continued escalation if Hamas refused.

The boats were about 70 nautical miles off Gaza when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching. The organisers said their communications, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats, had been scrambled.

Israel began its Gaza offensive after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive has killed over 66,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say.

(Reporting by Abdallah, Nayera, Mrinmay Dey, Gursimran Kaur, Alvise Armellini, Howard Goller, Alexander Cornwell, Sinan Abu Mayzer Tarek Amara, Anathi Madubela, Emma Pinedo, Aislinn Laing, Padraic Halpin, Jonathan Spicer and Rozanna Latiff; Writing by Edward McAllister, Michael Perry, Keith Weir and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Stephen Coates, Neil Fullick, Sharon Singleton, Kevin Liffey and Cynthia Osterman)