The Global Sumud Flotilla, the new mission headed to Gaza to bring humanitarian aid and break the Israeli blockade, was intercepted late on Wednesday 29 April by some Israeli patrol boats west of the island of Crete, in international waters. A video released on Telegram shows a Flotilla boat crew with their hands raised and an armed soldier climbing aboard. “Governments must act now to protect the Flotilla and hold Israel accountable for these flagrant violations of international law and the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people,” commented Global Sumud Flotilla.
Video footage of Israeli Navy storming one of the 7 intercepted flotilla boats.
The Israelis have ventured 500 nautical miles, to international waters off of the Greek coast – waters they have no jurisdiction in according to international law – to attempt to stop the Global… pic.twitter.com/VW72Ojm047
— SILENT BRIEF (@SilentBriefHQ) April 30, 2026
Global Sumud Flotilla stranded near Crete
A Tel Aviv official said that due to the size of the flotilla – 58 boats – it was decided to intercept it at a great distance from the Israeli coast, in international waters. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani asked the crisis unit and the embassies in Tel Aviv and Athens to obtain information from the Israeli and Greek authorities, to protect the Italian citizens on board.
The organizers of the mission, which left on Sunday 26 April from Sicily towards the Gaza Strip, said that 15 of the 58 boats underway were intercepted. For the moment there is no news of the people who were on board: it is possible that as in previous cases they were arrested and taken to Israel. The Israeli army had already stopped a previous flotilla, organized by the same association last October, in an attempt to reach Gaza, arresting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and over 450 participants.
🚨 BREAKING: Gaza-Bound Aid Flotilla Faces Serious Threat in International Waters Near Greece
The @gbsumudflotilla a civilian fleet carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, is now facing a significant and escalating danger while sailing in international waters off the coast of… pic.twitter.com/hrRD2RMwYU
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) April 29, 2026
“Kidnapped in the middle of the Mediterranean”
The Global Sumud Flotilla announced that its boats were “approached by military speedboats, calling themselves Israeli, who, aiming lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons, ordered the participants to move to the bow and get on their knees. The boats’ communications were interrupted and an SOS was launched.”
Israel is on high alert as Global Sumud Flotilla enters international waters carrying weapons such as bread, milk and medicine. pic.twitter.com/VM7Qu1Wefo
— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) April 29, 2026
“Israel’s actions this evening mark a dangerous and unprecedented escalation: the abduction of civilians in the middle of the Mediterranean, over 960 kilometers from Gaza, before the eyes of the entire world. Let’s be clear what this is about. This is piracy.” Thus, in a note released during the night, the Global Sumud Flotilla. “This is the illegal seizure of human beings on the high seas near Crete – he adds -, a statement according to which Israel can operate with total impunity, well beyond its borders, without suffering consequences. We demand that those responsible are held accountable for their actions”.
“This is a real attack against civilians in international waters. Unarmed civilian boats, hundreds of kilometers from Israel, are surrounded and threatened with weapons,” Gur Tsabar, press officer for the Global Sumud Flotilla, told Al Jazeera. “Israel has no jurisdiction in these waters. Intercepting or boarding these vessels would amount to illegal detention, potentially kidnapping on the high seas,” he added. Tsabar urged governments around the world to act immediately. “Every government has an obligation to protect the more than 400 civilians on board and to respect international law. Silence at this moment amounts to total complicity – he said -. Immediate intervention is necessary to guarantee the safety of the flotilla and to ensure that we can continue to open the humanitarian corridor to Gaza”.
Israeli military boats have illegally surrounded the flotilla in international waters and threatened kidnapping and violence.
Communications with 11 vessels have been lost and Israeli media claims that 7 boats have been intercepted. Governments must act now to protect the… pic.twitter.com/DfuRyFm925
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) April 29, 2026
The testimony of Vittorio Sergi
“We were headed for a non-violent protest action against the Zim Emeralda ship, which left the port of Genoa and was headed to Haifa with a load defined as ‘dangerous’ when some of the boats were boarded.” These are the words of Vittorio Sergi, an activist from the Marche region on board a boat, flying the Italian flag, which is part of the humanitarian mission headed towards Gaza with the aim of bringing aid to the Palestinian population. “The action was intended to be peaceful and aimed at denouncing arms trafficking – continues Sergi, as he says he is at the helm of the boat and is leaving the interception zone heading towards Crete -. We are in international waters, in front of Greece. This is a sign that civil and non-violent initiatives are annoying those who have made the Mediterranean their backyard, but the Flotilla claims precisely the element of peace, of brotherhood between peoples and is not resigned to this”.
Tajani asks Israel for information
“The Foreign Ministry has received information about an approach by Israeli military units to the boats of the Flotilla that set sail in recent days for a navigation towards Gaza – reads a note from the Farnesina -. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani immediately asked the crisis unit, the Italian embassy in Tel Aviv and the Italian embassy in Athens to obtain information with the Israeli and Greek authorities to define the contours of the ongoing operation and allow the Italian government to implement the actions necessary to protect Italian citizens on board”.