[News] Gaza aid flotilla organisers say 41 boats intercepted, 10 still sailing

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 News <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/>|Gaza
<https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/gaza/>
Gaza aid flotilla organisers say 41 boats intercepted, 10 still sailing

*Foreign ministers of 10 countries say Israel’s storming of the aid
flotilla is a blatant violation of international law.*
[image: An Israeli naval boat intercepts the Global Sumud Flotilla en route
to Gaza]
Margaret Connolly, an Irish doctor and sister of President Catherine
Connolly, was among those 'illegally kidnapped' by Israel, organisers say
[Handout/Global Sumud Flotilla via Reuters]
By Al Jazeera Staff
<https://www.aljazeera.com/author/al_jazeera_staff_150119130629458> and AFP
Published On 19 May 2026

The organisers of an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip say Israeli
forces raided
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/18/israeli-forces-intercept-gaza-bound-aid-flotilla>
41 of their boats in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, while 10 vessels
continue to sail towards the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The vessels still sailing were about 121 nautical miles (224km) from Gaza,
the Global Sumud Flotilla said on Tuesday morning.

More than 50 vessels sailed from the Turkish port city of Marmaris last
week, in what organisers described as the final stage of a journey aimed at
challenging Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Israeli forces began storming the boats in international waters off the
coast of Cyprus on Monday, organisers said, and abducted activists.

Several countries have condemned the Israeli attacks on the aid flotilla.
The foreign ministers of Turkiye, Spain, Jordan, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, Libya, and the Maldives released a joint
statement, describing Israeli forces’ actions as “blatant violations of
international law and international humanitarian law”.

As per the statement, the ministers expressed “serious concern regarding
the safety and security of the civilian participants of the flotilla” and
called for the “immediate release of all detained activists, as well as for
full respect for their rights and dignity”.

Reporting from the Palestinian enclave, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said
Israeli media described the operation as one of the largest naval
interception campaigns targeting a Gaza-bound flotilla in recent years.

Shortly before Israeli forces began intercepting boats on Monday, Israel’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed the flotilla to abandon its mission.

“Change course and turn back immediately,” the ministry said in a statement.


[image: Israel intercepts Gaza-bound aid flotilla, detains activists at sea]

   - Israel intercepts Gaza-bound aid flotilla, detains activists at sea

Margaret Connolly, an Irish doctor and President Catherine Connolly’s
sister, was among those “illegally kidnapped” by Israel, organisers said in
a statement sent to the AFP news agency.

President Connolly, on a planned trip to the United Kingdom, told reporters
after talks in London with King Charles III that the news was “upsetting”.

“I’m very worried about her, and I’m also very concerned about her
colleagues on board,” she said, adding she did not have any details.

Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza since 2007, saying it is necessary
to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

Rights groups and humanitarian organisations have repeatedly criticised the
blockade, describing it as collective punishment imposed on Gaza’s
population.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20260519/2cf54170/attachment.htm>