Source : Perth Now news
According to the organizers of the fleet, Israel has intercepted support ships traveling to Gaza in international waters close to Greece, calling the action an “escalation of Israel’s impunity.”
The ships are a part of a second International Sumud fleet that aims to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza in recent months in an effort to break an Israeli siege.
On April 12, they sailed from the Spanish harbor of Barcelona.
According to the organizers of the flotilla, Israel seized the arteries in foreign waters off Greece’s Peloponnese island, which was hundreds of kilometers from Gaza.
About 175 protesters from more than 20 boats participating in the fleet were being taken to Israel, according to the foreign ministry of Israel.
From a full of 17 people who were known to be volunteering on the fleet, six Australians were detained.
The organization stated in a statement that” this is piracy.”
” This is the unlawful arrest of people on the open water near Crete,” according to the statement.” Israel can work with complete violence, far beyond its own borders, and without any consequences.”
No condition had the authority to hold, possess, or police international waters, but Israel extended its authority to the Mediterranean Sea, according to the statement.
The Israeli government’s foreign ministry described the flotilla’s organizers as “professional propagandists” on Thursday, and it claimed that its troops carried out a lawful operation.
An first step in accordance with international law was necessary in order to prevent the violation of a valid blockade, given the large numbers of vessels participating in the fleet and the risk of intensification and the need to avoid the breach of a valid blockade.
Israeli soldiers were seen wearing life jackets with their hands up while they were boarding a warship according to images released by the organizers.
The crew members were then transported to Israeli boats.
Late on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Greek state, Pavlos Marinakis, confirmed that 55 vessels were sailed toward Crete, 90 kilometers off the coast of Greece, while Jewish ships and Greek navy vessels were in shadow.
He claimed that Athens had not been informed that the Jewish intercept, which occurred outside Greek control, had occurred.
Some ships were sailing near the southwest coast of Crete, according to a live-streaming vessel sensor.
Turkey said it would support the fleet and that the interception was a flagrant violation of international law that had threatened nautical safety.
Greta Thunberg and more than 450 other people were arrested after a previous fleet by the same organization was put on hold by Israel’s government in October 2025.
That followed another unsuccessful seaborne attempts to reach Gaza, which had been blocked.
Israel, which has all exposure to the Gaza Strip, disputes that it withholds products for its two million people.
Despite a peace reached in October that included promises of improved aid, Palestinians and international aid organizations claim products to the place are still insufficient.
with AP and AAP
