Palestinians Condemn Israel’s Interceptions of Global Freedom Flotilla

Gaza City, Gaza – New boats have set sail in another attempt to break Israel’s nearly two-decade-long siege on Gaza. This comes after Israeli forces intercepted at least 70 boats in multiple flotillas carrying aid to Gaza and detained, beat and abused international activists in late April and mid-May. Those attacks by Israel were quickly condemned by Palestinians in Gaza who held multiple press conferences on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in solidarity with the flotillas.

“We are protesting here today to strongly condemn the Israeli act of violence, aggression and its piracy against the flotilla,” Sujud Shanawra, a 27-year-old Palestinian activist, told Unicorn Riot on May 1.

She called on the international community to “end its complicity and its impunity that it gives to the Israeli occupation.”

On May 18, Israel intercepted the last boat in the latest flotilla, which was 72 vessels strong at its peak. The flotilla carried a cumulative load of humanitarian aid weighing more than 11,000 kilograms.

Before that, one of Israel’s largest single attacks against the flotilla came on May 1, when the country’s military arrested 181 members of the flotilla crew off the coast of Greece, transporting them to Greek custody on the island of Crete.

The interceptions, which began more than 600 nautical miles from Gaza on April 29, did not blindside activists. In fact it was expected, according to Nasr Hajjo, organizer of a protest on May 1 in the Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City.

“You have risked your lives to break the siege of Gaza,” Hajjo said in message directed at the flotilla’s crew. “We are waiting for the siege on Gaza to be broken, and the suffering children of Gaza are waiting for the siege to be broken and for you to come to the Gaza Strip to break the siege and bring in aid and supplies.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has been attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza since it was established in 2010, raising awareness internationally of the blockade’s effects on the people of Gaza.

In 2025, the FFC joined other Palestinian human rights initiatives to form the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israel in international waters following a series of drone attacks against the civilian crews.

After this year’s flotilla attacks, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) submitted testimonies to the International Criminal Court from flotilla crew members who allege Israel subjected them to excessive force and mistreatment while in custody.

“Israel’s repeated disregard for international law, including Law of the Sea in relation to Gaza Flotilla incidents, reflects a pattern of percieved impunity that has gone largely unchecked by many Western governments, despite the involvement of their own citizens as flotilla participants and reported cases of mistreatment, including allegations of physical abuse and unlawful detention,” the ICJP wrote.

The United Nations established the Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1994 to set an international legal framework for all maritime activities. Part of the framework establishes a country’s “territorial sea” up to 12 nautical miles where the state can set laws and regulate the body of water’s use. A further 12 nautical miles marks the “contiguous zone,” where the country’s ability to control and regulate is much more limited. Beyond that, a country is prohibited from exercising sovereignty and enforcing its own laws on passing vessels.

Vessels in international waters are subject to the laws of the flag it is flying. No Israeli flag flew above any of the flotilla boats.

The United States and Israel are not parties to the Law of the Sea, which has a total of 172 signatory countries.

Freedom Flotilla and Global Sumud Tracker

The 2025 Global Sumud Flotilla made it closer to Gaza than any other attempt, coming within about 70 nautical miles of the country’s border. None have made it within the 12 nautical miles of Israel’s coast that would allow the country to enforce its laws on the flotillas under international law.

During a May 6 rally at Gaza Port, a number of popular organizations came together to show support and express solidarity with the flotilla crews.

“These activists have embodied the meaning of humanity, transcending the boundaries and positions of their governments entirely,” Head of the Civil Society Organizations Alliance Taysir Muhaysin told Unicorn Riot. “They have demonstrated more humanity than all the governments in the world, which, throughout two full years of this war of extermination, have been unable to stop the massacres and killings inflicted upon the Gaza Strip.”

Alaa al-Din al-Aklouk, a leader of the National Gathering of Palestinian Tribes, Clans, and Families, commended the effort of the flotilla crews and called on the “free people of the world” to take a clear stand on Gaza’s maritime corridor.

Gaza’s coastline extends roughly 24 miles along the Mediteranian Sea, but Israel has taken complete control of the sea space since the blockade began in 2007. In 2018, Israel restricted fishing access to three nautical miles from the coast.

“Even if this flotilla does not bring about change, it is enough that it exposes the ugly face of the occupation to the world, so that the world may recognize the arrogance of the Israeli occupation and understand the shortcomings of international law in its dealings with it,” Al-Aklouk said.