Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla late Wednesday night in international waters near the Greek island of Crete, detaining more than 170 activists, including 20 Turkish citizens, in the latest attempt to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza by sea.
The flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona earlier in April, included dozens of boats carrying humanitarian aid and activists from several countries. Organizers said Israeli forces surrounded the flotilla late Wednesday and early Thursday morning more than 500 nautical miles from Gaza and only a few miles outside Greek territorial waters.
Novara Media, citing flotilla organizers, reported that the flotilla was sailing just off Greece when the operation began at around 11 p.m. local time. The outlet reported that 22 of 57 boats were believed to have been intercepted, while 35 escaped, many entering Greek territorial waters. About 170 participants were believed to have been detained and taken toward Israel, while others may have been left stranded at sea after their boats’ engines and navigation systems were damaged.
Other outlets also reported that Israeli forces used drones, communications jamming and armed boarding parties during the operation.
The flotilla’s organizers described the situation as “a calculated death trap,” saying damaged boats had been left in the path of an approaching storm. Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said in an Instagram post that the attack should send “shock waves across Europe” because it took place in international waters close to Greece.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the interception as “an act of piracy,” saying Israeli forces attacked a civilian mission organized to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. The ministry said the operation violated humanitarian principles, international law and freedom of navigation on the high seas.
The ministry called on the international community to take a united stand against Israel’s “unlawful act” and said Turkey was taking steps in coordination with other countries regarding the well-being of Turkish citizens and other passengers of the flotilla.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said Israel’s intervention against the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters was “a clear violation of international law” and said the attack targeted not only humanitarian values but also the safety of navigation in international waters. The ministry said Turkey, which has the longest coastline in the eastern Mediterranean, was closely monitoring developments in the region and that the Turkish Armed Forces had taken “all necessary measures” within the framework of humanitarian aid and support.
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel called Israel’s action “lawless” and “an act of piracy” against a civilian flotilla carrying food, medicine and aid to Gaza. Özel said the flotilla represented “humanity’s common conscience” and urged the international community not to remain silent. He said his party would continue to stand with the flotilla, including the 20 detained Turkish citizens, and denounced what he called Israel’s genocidal government.
Özel also turned his criticism on the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing it of hypocrisy for claiming to support Palestinians while taking part in a US-backed Gaza peace project with Israel. He said the government had lost credibility by sitting at what he called a “so-called peace table” with Israeli officials and US President Donald Trump, whom he criticized for calling Netanyahu a “war hero.”
Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek also condemned the interception, saying Israel had once again shown that it disregarded humanitarian values and international law by attacking a civilian flotilla seeking to attract attention to the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians in Gaza.
Gürlek accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials of committing genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and ill-treatment through what he described as systematic attacks that do not distinguish between women, children and other civilians.
Gürlek’s statement also referred to an existing Turkish criminal case over a previous Israeli interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Gürlek previously served as İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor. He said an investigation launched during his tenure into Israel’s earlier intervention against the Global Sumud Flotilla had turned into an indictment and that court proceedings had begun.
That case concerns an Israeli interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla in 2025. In April 2026 the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against 35 Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, over the raid. Prosecutors accused them of crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity, deprivation of liberty, torture, property damage, qualified looting and hijacking or detaining transportation vehicles.
The indictment seeks aggravated life sentences and prison terms ranging from 1,102 to 4,596 years for each suspect, according to the Anadolu news agency.
Previous flotilla raids and detained Turkish lawmakers
The latest interception follows two major Gaza-bound flotilla episodes in October 2025.
In the first, Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a larger convoy of about 40 boats, and detained hundreds of activists, including Turkish citizens. That raid became the basis for the Turkish indictment filed in April 2026 of Netanyahu and 34 other Israeli officials.
Days later, on October 8, 2025, Israeli forces intercepted another Gaza-bound mission organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza. That flotilla included The Conscience, which carried doctors, journalists, activists and elected officials.
Three members of the Turkish Parliament — Necmettin Çalışkan and Mehmet Atmaca of the Felicity Party and Sema Silkin Ün of the Future Party — were aboard The Conscience. The three lawmakers and 18 Turkish citizens later returned to Turkey via separate routes after being held in Israeli custody. The lawmakers traveled from Tel Aviv to Baku before arriving in İstanbul, while 18 other Turkish nationals and other activists were flown from Amman on a special Turkish Airlines charter.
The latest interception is one of Israel’s farthest known operations against a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, taking place near Crete, close to European territorial waters.