GAZA CITY, Oct 1 — The international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza said Israeli vessels approached some of its boats and engaged in "dangerous and intimidatory manoeuvres" on Wednesday as it neared the Palestinian territory.
The mission's organisers said two Israeli "warships" had approached fast and encircled two of the flotilla's boats, Alma and Sirius. All navigation and communication devices went down in what one organiser on board, Thiago Ávila, described in a press conference as a "cyber attack".
The flotilla appeared to have recovered some communications. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"These hostile actions placed unarmed civilians from over 40 countries in grave danger," the flotilla said in a statement.
'Dangerous manoeuvres', drone attack
The Global Sumud Flotilla consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 people, among them parliamentarians, lawyers, and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
It is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war, to deliver food and medicine.
The boats have reached within 120 nautical miles of Gaza's coast, inside an area that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching. The flotilla said it would continue its course towards Gaza and expects to arrive on Thursday morning if not intercepted.
It was unclear who operated the vessels that approached the flotilla. A video post on the flotilla's Instagram page showed the silhouetted outline of what appeared to be a military vessel with a gun turret near the civilian boats.
Reuters confirmed that the video was filmed from the vessel Sirius because its rigging and lines matched file imagery of the boat. Reuters could not confirm the identity of the other vessel in the video or when the video was taken.
Last week, the flotilla was attacked by drones, which dropped stun grenades and itching powder on the vessels, causing damage but no injuries.
Israel did not comment on that attack, but has said it will use any means to prevent the boats from reaching Gaza, arguing that its naval blockade is legal as it battles Hamas militants in the coastal enclave.
Italy and Spain deployed naval ships to help with any rescue or humanitarian needs, but stopped following the flotilla once it got within 150 nautical miles (278km) of Gaza for safety reasons. Turkish drones have also followed the boats.
On Wednesday, Italy and Greece jointly called on Israel not to hurt the activists aboard and called on the flotilla to hand over its aid to the Catholic Church for indirect delivery to Gaza — a plea the flotilla has previously rejected.
Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt.
"This systematic refusal (to hand over the aid) demonstrates that the objective is not humanitarian, but provocative. They are not seeking to help, they are seeking an incident," the Israeli ambassador to Italy Jonathan Peled said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Past attempts to deliver aid
At the press conference held by organisers on Wednesday, the top United Nations expert on Palestinian rights Francesca Albanese said that any interception of the flotilla "would be yet another violation of international law, the law of the sea" since Israel had no legal jurisdiction on waters off Gaza.
Israel has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control of the coastal enclave in 2007, and there have been several previous attempts by activists to deliver aid by sea.
In 2010, nine activists were killed after Israeli soldiers boarded a flotilla of six ships manned by 700 pro-Palestinian activists from 50 countries.
In June this year, Israeli naval forces detained Thunberg and 11 crew members from a small ship organised by a pro-Palestinian group called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as they approached Gaza.
