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Published On 29 Apr 2026
Organisers of a humanitarian aid ship sailing towards Gaza to help break Israel’s blockade say the vessel has been approached by apparent Israeli speedboats.
“Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel’, pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons, ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,” said the Global Sumud Flotilla aid mission on Thursday.
“Boat communications are being jammed, and a SOS was issued.”
Israel Army Radio cited an Israeli source as saying it began seizing control of aid ships heading towards Gaza, far from Israeli shores. It added that naval forces had captured seven of 58 vessels in the Global Sumud Flotilla near the Greek island of Crete.
Al Jazeera Arabic reported that the Israeli army has issued warnings to activists aboard the ships of the flotilla, demanding that they return immediately, and threatening to intercept the ships and obstruct their arrival “by all possible means” if they continued sailing.
Gaza has been devastated by more than two years of genocidal war, which killed more than 72,500 Palestinians.
