The Global Sumud Flotilla reported that Israeli boats stopped them at gunpoint and intercepted about twenty of 58 boats
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Flotilla sources explained that the army intercepted “at least 22 boats with over a hundred people on board.” Their whereabouts are currently unknown, while other boats have returned to Greek territorial waters.
In a message recorded on the radio communications system of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, which is participating in the flotilla, on the night of April 29, a military naval commander identifying himself as a member of the Israeli army is heard ordering the ships to head for the Israeli port of Ashdod or stop and turn back to their ports of origin. As confirmed by the Open Arms ship participating in the humanitarian mission, the intercepted ships are 671 nautical miles from Israel, in international waters, but very close to the Greek peninsula of the Peloponnese and the island of Crete. Humanitarian activist Oscar Camps, who is travelling with the ship, describes Israel’s actions as an act of “piracy.”
An alert message was sent to the Global Sumud Flotilla international Telegram group and the organisation confirmed that diplomatic contacts have begun to denounce the military action. The live surveillance cameras inside the ships have begun broadcasting as a “protection mechanism”.
Although other solidarity missions have seen drone attacks on ships in the territorial waters of Tunisia and Malta, the presence of boats and frigates confirms that the action would be by the navy commanded by Netanyahu at a greater distance from the coast of Israel. In a message published on social media by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is confirmed that the military is on the deck of the ships. The organisation of the humanitarian mission has lost communication with twenty of the crews.
Machine translation
