Israel intercepts Global Sumud boats, demands activists halt their mission

Israeli military forces have intercepted Global Sumud boats using jamming technology and armed boarding teams to halt the humanitarian fleet in the middle of the Mediterranean, according to organisers and Israeli media.

“Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel’, pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons, ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,” the Global Sumud Flotilla aid mission said on Thursday.

“Israeli military boats have illegally surrounded the flotilla in international waters and threatened kidnapping and violence,” the flotilla said in a post on social media.

“Communication with 11 vessels have been lost and Israeli media claims that 7 boats have been intercepted. Governments must act now to protect the flotilla.”

Israel Army Radio cited an Israeli source as saying it began seizing control of the aid ships heading towards Gaza and that seven of the 58 vessels in the Global Sumud Flotilla had been captured near the Greek island of Crete.

Gur Tsabar, a spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla, described Israel’s boarding of its vessels as “a straight-up attack on unarmed civilian boats in international waters”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Toronto, Canada, Tsabar said the sea assault was taking place “hundreds of miles from Israel”, with the flotilla being “surrounded and threatened at gunpoint”.

“This is illegal under international law. Israel has no jurisdiction in these waters. Boarding these boats amounts to illegal detention – potentially kidnapping on the high seas,” said Tsabar.

“It’s critical that all governments act now. Every government has an obligation to protect the over 400 civilians on board and to uphold international law. Silence in this moment is absolute complicity.”

‘We’ve lost communication with many of our boats’

Tariq Ra’ouf, a writer and activist who is on board a vessel in the flotilla, told Al Jazeera how the fleet was surrounded by large Israeli military ships from which rigid inflatable boats (RIB) then deployed.

“From those military ships a bunch of smaller military RIBs began surrounding many of our vessels. Drones have been surrounding us and flashing us with lights. And we’ve been getting messages from the Israeli military through our radio saying that we are breaking international law and that we need to stop,” Ra’ouf said.

The Israeli operation unfolded over a number of hours, Ra’ouf said, adding that the aid flotilla was travelling to Crete in international waters when Israel’s naval raid began.

“We’ve lost communication with many of our boats,” Ra’ouf said, adding that the flotilla’s communications have been jammed by the Israeli military playing music over radio channels as “some sort of psychological warfare tactic”.

“We are in international waters and so this is a really, truly unprecedented move from Israel because we are nowhere near Gaza,” Ra’ouf added.

Al Jazeera Arabic reported that the Israeli army has issued warnings to activists on board the flotilla’s ships, demanding they return immediately, and threatening to intercept the ships and obstruct their arrival “by all possible means” if they continue sailing to the war-torn Palestinian territory.

Gaza has been devastated by more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 72,500 Palestinians.