JAKARTA - Israeli military forces are reported to still be attacking and boarding the Global Sumud Flotilla aid fleet in international waters as the humanitarian convoy heads to the Gaza Strip.
"The interception continues. Israeli military ships are currently illegally boarding our fleet. We are on high alert as we continue towards Gaza. We refuse to be intimidated," said a statement from Global Sumud Flotilla on Tuesday, May 19, as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu.
The humanitarian mission's organizer said 10 humanitarian aid ships had escaped the Israeli attack for 22 hours in international waters and continued to sail to Gaza.
"The ships are now only 121 nautical miles from the Gaza coast," the statement said.
Previously, the Israeli news site Walla, citing an unnamed security source, reported that the Israeli military had seized more than 40 of the total 54 ships involved in the voyage and detained around 300 activists.
This marked the second Israeli attack on the aid fleet in less than 24 hours after the Israeli military launched an attack on Monday (18/5) on an aid convoy in international waters.
The fleet, consisting of 54 ships, set sail on Thursday (14/5) from the district of Marmaris, Turkey, in a new attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since 2007.
This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred. At the end of April, the Israeli military attacked the ships of the flotilla in international waters near the island of Crete, Greece. At that time, the humanitarian convoy carried 345 participants from 39 countries, including Turkish citizens.
Israeli forces seized 21 boats carrying about 175 activists, while other boats continued their journey to Greek territorial waters.
Israel later released the activists in international waters, except for two, a Spanish activist and a Brazilian activist, who were taken to a detention center in Israel before being deported.
Some 2.4 million Palestinians, including about 1.5 million refugees, now live in dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
The situation was exacerbated by the two-year-old Israeli war which has killed more than 72,700 people and injured more than 172,700 others, most of whom are women and children. This then triggered severe famine conditions.
Although a ceasefire was announced in October 2025, Israel is said to continue to restrict access to humanitarian aid and carry out daily attacks that have left 877 Palestinians dead and 2,602 others injured, according to local authorities.
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