Israel intercepts almost all Gaza-bound flotilla vessels; Amnesty condemns move

Israel’s navy has intercepted almost all vessels attempting to breach its blockade of Gaza, detaining dozens of participants including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

The country’s foreign ministry said only one vessel from the flotilla remains at sea, CNN World reported.

The ships, part of the “Global Sumud Flotilla,” carried more than 500 people from dozens of countries aiming to deliver food, water, and medicine to civilians in Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis has deepened amid Israel’s ongoing offensive.

Flotilla organizers denounced the operation as “an illegal attack” on humanitarian workers. Israel, however, maintained the activists were “not interested in aid, but in provocation.”

In Gaza itself, Israel is intensifying efforts to capture Gaza City.

The Red Cross has suspended operations, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Palestinians had a “last opportunity” to move south.

Amnesty International sharply criticised Israel’s actions, calling the seizure “a calculated act of intimidation” designed to “punish and silence critics of Israel’s genocide and its unlawful blockade on Gaza.”

“The interception of the flotilla and the detention of its crew was a brazen assault against solidarity activists carrying out an entirely peaceful humanitarian mission,” Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement. She added that the move followed “weeks of threats and incitement by Israeli officials” as well as “attempts to sabotage” some of the ships.

Callamard urged the immediate and unconditional release of the activists.

“The very fact that they had to set sail in the first place,” she said, “is a clear indictment of the international community’s persistent failure to end Israel’s ongoing genocide and to ensure the unhindered flow of aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”