ATHENS, April 30 (Reuters) - Israel has seized aid ships bound for Gaza in international waters near Greece, flotilla organisers said on Thursday, decrying the move as an "escalation of Israel's impunity."
The ships make up part of a second Global Sumud flotilla to try in recent months to break an Israeli blockade by carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. They sailed from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X that Israel "has successfully blocked attempts to breach the lawful naval blockade on Gaza."
"In coordination with the Greek government, the individuals transferred from the flotilla vessels to the Israeli vessel will be disembarked on a Greek beach in the coming hours," he said. "Israel will not allow the breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza."
GREECE ASKED ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW VESSELS
The vessels were seized by Israel late on Wednesday in international waters off Greece's Peloponnese peninsula, which is hundreds of miles from Gaza, the flotilla's organisers said.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had "asked Israel to withdraw its vessels from the area" and said it offered to "welcome the passengers on its territory and to ensure their safe return to their countries."
It said it was in talks with Israel to secure disembarkation. But the ministry gave no further details on when and where it could take place.
"This is piracy," the flotilla organisers said in a statement. "This is the unlawful seizure of human beings on the open sea near Crete, an assertion that Israel can operate with total impunity, far beyond its own borders, with no consequences."
No state had the right to claim, police, or occupy international waters, but Israel had done that, extending its control outward to occupy the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Europe, it added.
Israel's foreign ministry on Thursday called the flotilla organisers "professional provocateurs."
Germany and Italy's foreign ministries issued a joint statement saying they were following developments with "deep concern." They did not say how many Italians or Germans had been detained.
In a statement on Thursday, the U.S. State Department threatened "to impose consequences" against those who support the flotilla that it cast as pro-Hamas. Washington also said it backed Israeli actions against the flotilla.
Pro-Palestinian activists say Israel and the U.S. wrongly conflate their advocacy for Palestinian rights as support for Hamas extremists.
ISRAELI SOLDIERS BOARD SHIPS
Footage released by the organisers showed Israeli soldiers boarding a vessel and crew in life vests with their hands up. Crew members were then taken to Israeli ships.
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis confirmed that 55 vessels were sailing some 50 nautical miles off the Peloponnese towards Crete, shadowed by Israeli warships and Greek coastguard vessels late on Wednesday.
Crew from 17 vessels were safe aboard Israeli warships, he said, adding that Athens had not been notified of the Israeli interception, which took place outside Greek jurisdiction.
A live tracker of the flotilla showed some boats sailing near the southwestern coast of Crete.
SECOND FLOTILLA TO BE INTERCEPTED
Turkey denounced the interception as a clear violation of international law which jeopardized navigational safety, adding that it would take action to support the flotilla.
Last October Israel's military halted a previous flotilla assembled by the same organisation, arresting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and more than 450 participants. That followed other seaborne attempts to reach blockaded Gaza.
Palestinians and international aid bodies say supplies reaching Gaza are still insufficient, despite a ceasefire reached in October that included guarantees of increased aid.
Israel, which controls all access to the Gaza Strip, denies withholding supplies for its 2 million residents.
(Reporting by Menna Alaa El Din and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Additional Reporting by Hatem Maher, Angeliki Koutantou, Renee Maltezou, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Chris Reese, Clarence Fernandez, Aidan Lewis, Alistair Bell, Rod Nickel)
