JAKARTA - Israeli authorities said 430 activists aboard a relief convoy bound for the Gaza Strip, Palestine, were on their way to Israel after their ship was intercepted at sea.
Sailing from Turkey last week, the Global Sumud Flotilla ships are the latest in a series of activist attempts to break through Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory, with the last convoy intercepted by Israeli forces last month.
"The other PR fleet has ended. All 430 activists have been transferred to Israeli ships and are heading to Israel, where they will be able to meet with their consular representatives," a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday evening, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (20/5).
"This fleet once again proves to be nothing more than a PR stunt for Hamas's benefit," the spokesperson added.
Israel's military intercepted a flotilla of aid bound for the Gaza Strip on Monday after sailing from Turkey last week, with organizers saying one of the ships was stopped off the coast of Cyprus.
"Military ships are currently intercepting our fleet and IDF forces are currently boarding our first ship in the daylight," Global Sumud Flotilla wrote on X.
The latest Global Sumud fleet is the third initiative in a year aimed at breaking Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has suffered severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023.
The fleet, which consisted of 50 ships, sailed from Turkey on Thursday last week. A website that tracks the location of the fleet then showed that several ships were intercepted west of Cyprus.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously denounced the fleet as a "malicious scheme designed to break through the blockade we have imposed on Hamas terrorists in Gaza."
He also praised the Israeli Navy commandos who intercepted the ships of the fleet. Quoted from The Times of Israel, the Israeli Navy commandos boarded the first ship in the humanitarian convoy off the coast of Cyprus.
Before this week's interception, Israeli forces intercepted a second flotilla in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30 and sent most of the 175 activists to Europe, but arrested two of them, who were held for 10 days before being deported.
Last year, Israeli authorities blocked a similar attempt involving about 50 ships and about 500 activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, and several European parliamentarians.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.
During the Gaza war, which was triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023, the territory suffered severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essential supplies, with Israel sometimes halting aid shipments entirely.
Israel had previously dismissed the flotillas as publicity stunts, after their organizers rejected calls to transfer the small amounts of symbolic aid they brought to Israel or international organizations to be taken to the Gaza Strip and distributed through official channels.
Previous attempts to break through the blockade have also failed. The last time an activist ship managed to reach the Gaza Strip was in 2008.
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