ISTANBUL, (PIC)
Live‑stream footage from cameras aboard boats of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) has shown harrowing moments as Israeli naval forces, including commando units, stormed vessels in international waters using speedboats and communication‑jamming technology.
The footage showed scenes of Israeli soldiers hijacking GSF boats and kidnaping activists who were on board before the live broadcast was cut off.
According to different media sources, the hijacking operation happened on Monday off the coast of Cyprus, hundreds of kilometers away from Palestinian territorial waters.
The Israeli occupation forces raided more than 40 of the 54 GSF vessels and detained at least 300 activists, according to the Israeli news website Walla on Tuesday.
On Monday afternoon, the GSF organizers announced that Israeli forces had so far intercepted 40 vessels in the flotilla.
According to the organizers, GSF boats were carrying food, baby formula and medical aid for Palestinians in the besieged and war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where living conditions are dire and the population is still being displaced and attacked, despite the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas last October.
With 54 boats taking part, the international flotilla set sail last Thursday from Marmaris, Türkiye, in a renewed bid to break the inhumane Israeli blockade on Gaza that has been in place since 2007.
In late April, Israeli forces also attacked GSF vessels in international waters near the Greek island of Crete. The convoy at the time carried 345 participants from 39 countries, including Turkish nationals.
In a related context, the legal rights organization “Adalah” has called for immediate access by legal teams to GSF activists who are being held by Israeli authorities, and demanded disclosure of their locations and detention conditions.
In a statement released on Monday evening, Adalah said that the flotilla sought to establish a humanitarian corridor for Gaza civilians in light of the ongoing Israeli policies of collective starvation and restrictions against them.
