Nine boats of Gaza Freedom Flotilla seized
The Global Sumud Flo on Wednesday, October, 8 announced that nine more boats from the coalition were intercepted by Israel while they were sailing to Gaza.
According to the Freedom Flotilla tracker, boats named Abd Elkarim Eid (Thaii), Ala Al Najjar (King Julian), Anas Al Sharif (Fouka), Conscince, Gaza Sunbird (Neruda), Leila Khalid (Tadzio), Milad (Algol), Soul of my Soul and Umm Saad (Maiden).
According to a news reports, the flotilla said the Israel military had attacked The Conscience, a boat carrying 93 journalists, doctors and activists – before it attacked and intercepted three smaller boats.
Following the interception, Israel’s foreign ministry took to X and said, “Another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing. The vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port. All the passengers are safe and in good health. The passengers are expected to be deported promptly.”
These boats were intercepted while they were 140 nautical miles away from Gaza.
The pro-Palestinian activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition said the boats were carrying “vital aid worth over 110,000 US Dollar in medicines, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies that were destined for Gaza’s starving hospitals”.
Israel has blocked several international aid flotillas in recent months from reaching Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in.
Last week Israeli naval forces stopped another Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels, carrying politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
The move drew mass protests across Europe, while Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, condemned the interception as a “crime of piracy and maritime terrorism“.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters joined pro-Palestinian mass demonstrations in cities across the world last weekend, calling for an immediate end to the war and the release of activists on board that flotilla.
Palestinian militants’ October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,160 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that over half of the dead are women and children.
This post was last modified on October 8, 2025 1:04 pm