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

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, Reuters reported. 

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.