Multiple vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian convoy sailing towards Gaza, were intercepted and boarded by Israeli forces overnight Wednesday as they attempted to push through the naval blockade. RFI spoke to a French surgeon on board one of the 44 ships and the wife of a UK activist whose boat was intercepted.
“The Israeli military is trying to terrorise us by relentlessly attacking us with water cannons, blasting bright flashing lights and shrilling sirens,” Yacine Haffaf, a French surgeon on board the Jeannot III told RFI this morning.
He is one of the 450 people from over 40 countries sailing on the 44 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which set sail for Gaza at the beginning of September to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Last night, several GSF vessels were intercepted by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) while they were hours away from the shores of Gaza.
Haffaf, 69, heads Waves of Freedom, the French contingent of the flotilla.
He told RFI – before the ship was intercepted – that his morale was still high even though he is drenched and “the Israeli boats are dangerously close”.
Live-streamed footage of the Jeannot III has shown the eight activists on board with their hands held high, fingers spread apart to indicate that they are unarmed and not posing a threat.
The civilians on board have been trained to adopt this attitude to present themselves as non-violent individuals.
A GSF activist reported that the Israeli military said “if you stop the engine, we stop the water”.
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Israeli forces reportedly ordered the flotilla to halt before it reached the blockade off Gaza.
“You are instructed to change your course. Approaching the naval blockade violates international law and poses a direct security threat to Israel and its citizens,” the navy told one of the GSF vessels.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, dismissed the claim.
“The flotilla has not entered Israel’s territorial waters, this is Palestine’s waters and Israel has no authority over it,” she said on Wednesday in a press conference.
“Therefore, any intervention by Israel in these waters is unlawful. Furthermore, the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to dismantle the occupation and withdraw its troops outside Palestine.
"This does not only mean the land – Gaza, the occupied territory – it also includes the territorial waters.”
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'He's my hero'
Another vessel, Adara – carrying 22 people from several countries – was intercepted and boarded by the IDF on Wednesday night.
Sid Khan, a 48-year-old banker from Glasgow, was on board the Adara. His wife Isma told RFI that she has had no news of her husband since the interception. Her last conversation with him was late Wednesday afternoon.
“He was in good spirits even though he knew that they were going to be captured, jailed even,” she said.
“Sid told me that it is likely the Israeli forces will force them to sign a document to say that they’ve breached Israeli territory. But they haven’t – they are in Palestinian waters.”
She said her husband believed going to jail for a few days was nothing compared to what Palestinians face.
“He’s my hero,” Isma said. “I am crying because it is hard, but it is also admirable, his determination to stand up for the Palestinians so that they can live a life of dignity and not live in an open prison.”
Isma and Sid are no stranger to humanitarian activities. Isma Khan, a Scottish Pakistani optometrist, does charity work for remote populations in the Himalayas by providing eye health and preventing avoidable blindness.
“Sid believes that the humanitarian mission has achieved its goal in opening the eyes of the world to Gaza,” said Isma.
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Enforcing international laws
Meanwhile, Albanese has underlined that the humanitarian aid the flotilla is carrying is just a drop in the ocean.
“More importantly, what the flotilla is carrying is the courage to enforce international laws,” she said.
In one of the videos released overnight by GSF, Thiago Avila on board the Alma was responding to the Israeli navy’s close presence by asking them to keep clear of the flotilla.
“Please keep a minimum of one nautical mile away from the Global Sumud Flotilla,” he said. “All vessels … our mission is a non-violent humanitarian solidarity mission for the Palestinian people in Gaza. Any attempt to block or hinder this mission is illegal by international law.”
Israel regards attempts to breach the naval blockade as a violation of international law and links the flotilla to Hamas.
Israel’s foreign ministry said on X that “several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port”.
GSF spokesperson Saif Abukeshek said the group was ready to pursue legal action.
“This is land and sea mobilisation. Any violation of international law and human rights that Israel is going to commit we will take all legal actions, whether through our participants or also the flags of the ships,” he said.
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Citizen mobilisation
Haffaf said he hoped public pressure would help secure the activists’ release.
“I hope our citizens will put pressure on all the governments to stop the apartheid, to stop the famine, to stop the genocide. Because it is indeed a genocide even though the French President – who finally recognised the state of Palestine – refuses to say the word,” he added.
He criticised France for offering nothing more than consular protection for its citizens in the flotilla.
Isma Khan said ordinary people were taking on a task that governments had failed to shoulder.
“In this day and age, there shouldn't be the need for a Global Sumud Flotilla, our governments should stand up to a genocide which is now recognised by everyone,” she said.
“But we’re still watching 20,000 children being murdered. It’s our governments who should be breaking the siege.”
