(Reuters) -Israeli forces have intercepted around 40 boats carrying aid and foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza, triggering international condemnation and protests on Thursday.
Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats, verified by Reuters, showed Israeli soldiers sporting helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled together in life vests with their hands up.
A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Sweden's Thunberg, the most prominent of the flotilla's passengers, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
PASSENGERS DIVERTED TO AN ISRAELI PORT
According to a tracker on the organiser, Global Sumud Flotilla's website, 40 boats were listed as "intercepted" or "assumed intercepted". Another two were said to be "sailing" but one of those appeared to be stationary.
Those vessels intercepted and those on board were expected to be taken initially to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where one ship was seen arriving by a Reuters witness.
"All the passengers are safe and in good health. They are making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe," the Israeli foreign ministry said on X.
"One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented," it added.
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa joined international condemnation of Israel's move, calling it a "grave offence" against "global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza".
Ramaphosa says the interception in international waters reinforced Israel's continued violation of international law and called on Israel to immediately release South Africans who were on the flotilla, including former president Nelson Mandela's grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela.
The activists are expected to be transferred to the immigration authority upon arrival in Ashdod, from where they will be moved to Ketziot Prison in southern Israel before they are deported, said Suhad Bishara, the director at Adalah, a human rights organisation and legal centre in Israel.
"Our main concern of this stage, of course, their well-being, their health condition, as well, making sure that they all get the legal advice prior to the hearings, during the hearings in the Immigration Tribunal and while (they are) in Israeli prison," Bishara told Reuters on Thursday.HIGH PROFILE OPPOSITION TO GAZA BLOCKADE
The flotilla, which set sail in late August, is transporting medicine and food to Gaza and consists of more than 40 civilian vessels with about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists. It's the highest-profile symbol of opposition to Israel's blockade of Gaza.
The flotilla's progress across the Mediterranean Sea garnered international attention as nations including Turkey, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.
Turkey’s foreign ministry called Israel’s “attack” on the flotilla “an act of terror” that endangered the lives of innocent civilians.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels on charges including deprivation of liberty, seizure of transport vehicles and damage to property, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the expulsion of Israel’s entire diplomatic delegation on Wednesday following the detention of two Colombians in the flotilla and terminated Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned Israel’s actions and said Israeli forces had detained 23 Malaysians.
INTERCEPTION TRIGGERS GLOBAL PROTESTS
Israel's interception of the flotilla sparked protests in Italy and Colombia, while protests were also called in Greece, Ireland and Turkey. Italian unions called a general strike for Friday.
Israel's navy had previously warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade, and asked organisers to change course. It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza.
The flotilla is the latest seaborne attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war.
In a statement, Hamas expressed support for the activists and called Israel's interception of the flotilla a "criminal act", calling for public protests to condemn Israel.
The boats were about 70 nautical miles off Gaza when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching. The organisers said their communications, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats, had been scrambled.
Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt.
"This systematic refusal (to hand over the aid) demonstrates that the objective is not humanitarian, but provocative," Jonathan Peled, the Israeli ambassador to Italy, said in a post on X.
Israel began its Gaza offensive after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive has killed over 66,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say.
(Reporting by Abdallah, Nayera, Mrinmay Dey, Gursimran Kaur, Alvise Armellini, Howard Goller, Alexander Cornwell, Sinan Abu Mayzer Tarek Amara, Anathi Madubela, Emma Pinedo, Aislinn Laing, Padraic Halpin, Jonathan Spicer and Rozanna Latiff; Writing by Edward McAllister, Michael Perry and Keith Weir; Editing by Stephen Coates, Neil Fullick and Sharon Singleton)
