A new flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip with food and medical supplies on board has been intercepted by Israeli forces.
The fleet, made up of nine vessels and 150 people, was stopped in international waters, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza which are jointly running the operation.
“Another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing,” Israel’s foreign ministry said.
Last week, Israel’s military stopped a 42-boat aid convoy with 479 pro-Palestinian activists on board. Most of them, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, were detained and later deported, but 138 remain in detention.
Organisers of the new attempt initially said three of its boats had been intercepted in the early hours of Wednesday morning, 120 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza.
Within hours, a live tracker showed that all nine boats had been stopped.
The Israeli government said “The vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port. All the passengers are safe and in good health,” the Israeli government said.
“The passengers are expected to be deported promptly.”
The 150 passengers hail from a wide-range of countries, including Turkey whose foreign ministry called the intervention “a grave violation of international law” and “an act of piracy”.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 67,183 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Israel has maintained a naval blockade off the coast of Gaza since 2007, when Hamas took control of the Strip.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 460 Palestinians have died from the effects of malnutrition since the start of the war, including a large number in Gaza City, which has been at the centre of an Israeli military campaign in recent weeks.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is backed by the United Nations, confirmed there was a famine in Gaza City and warned that it could spread within weeks.
Israel disputes the IPC’s findings. It insists that it acts in accordance with international law and facilitates the entry of aid into Gaza.