The Global Sumud Flotilla said on Wednesday night that its boats had been intercepted and boarded by Israeli naval forces.
The group said that the civilian boats, which are carrying aid bound for Gaza, had been “illegally intercepted” and at least two vessels boarded.
“Cameras are offline and vessels have been boarded by military personnel. We are actively working to confirm the safety and status of all participants on board,” the statement said.
The flotilla of about 50 ships, together with around 500 activists and a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid, has been sailing towards Gaza to break an Israeli maritime blockade and deliver humanitarian aid. It left the port of Barcelona a month ago.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is named after an Arabic word for resilience. Previous attempts to break the Gaza blockade have been thwarted by the Israeli military.
The crew includes Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Mandla Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, as well as medical professionals, politicians and others.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Israel had "safely stopped" several vessels and was transferring the passengers to an Israeli port.
"Greta and her friends are safe and healthy," the ministry wrote on social media.
Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European Parliament member travelling with the flotilla, said that "hundreds" of people were "illegally arrested and arbitrarily detained by Israel" during the interception.
Spain and Italy had sent navy ships to escort the flotilla for a part of the journey, but urged activists to turn back and avoid confrontation with Israel.
Italy's largest union has called a general strike for Friday in protest against the treatment of the flotilla, it said on Wednesday. Protests were also being held in some Italian cities late on Wednesday, including Naples, where demonstrators halted train traffic at the main station after reports that about 20 unidentified vessels were seen approaching the international flotilla.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry late last month declared that the blockade of Gaza was “lawful” and that the country would not allow boats to enter an active combat zone.
“We will not allow any PR stunt approaching an active war zone to violate our sovereignty,” Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said on Wednesday.
“Those who tried to enter Israeli territory illegally will be deported immediately after Yom Kippur in Israel. Israel has repeatedly offered ways to peacefully deliver aid to Gaza, but this flotilla is not interested in aid, only provocation.”
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
