Global Sumud Flotilla Mural, South Africa, Johannesburg, September 22 2025

Early on Wednesday, October 1, it was reported that the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) was illegally intercepted by the naval forces of the Israeli genocidal regime 120 nautical miles from Gaza. The Israeli naval manoeuvre to intercept the flotilla failed and the GSF ships ignored the attempt against lead vessels and continued toward Gaza. However, late on Wednesday, while the flotilla was still in international waters around 70 nautical miles from Gaza, Israel pirate forces boarded and hijacked most of the GSF convoy using torture methods with loudspeakers, bright lights, water cannon and dangerously ramming some ships. They kidnapped nearly 500 pro-Palestine activists aboard the fleet sailing in international waters. Yet still the GSF flotilla ships refused to stop and turn off their engines and bravely carried on to deliver their vital aid to Gaza.

IDF Hijacking Oxygono, GSF Tracker site

The GSF organisers said that overnight 21 ships out of 40 were confirmed seized by the Israelis with a further 18 that they had lost communication with and were possibly seized. Yet early on Thursday morning two vessels were still heading towards Gaza in the Global Sumud Flotilla. A tracker showed that the Mikeno had managed to enter Palestinian territorial waters only a few miles off the coast of Gaza with another the Marinette still in contact with GSF organisers and heading towards the enclave. According to reports the Mikeno was then intercepted and seized by the Israelis on Thursday and the Marinette seized on Friday morning, still 70 nautical miles from Gaza in international waters.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which has sent humanitarian vessels on earlier attempts to reach Gaza with aid, and the new Thousand Madleens mass group of boats - named after one of the FFC vessels attacked and seized by Israel - on Thursday, October 2, said that they will not stop sailing to Gaza, despite Israel's mass, criminal attack on the Gaza Sumud Flotilla's fifty ships and their volunteer crews on Wednesday night.

In a joint statement, the groups said:

Israel has illegally attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla, sailing to challenge Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza. Communications have gone dark, cameras are offline and the flotilla's boats are being boarded by armed and masked commando forces. This is yet another breach of international law - an attempt to silence those who dare confront Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people, while governments shield Israel with diplomatic cover and military aid.

We name this for what it is: impunity, made possible by political cowardice and complicity.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza stand firmly in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla and every human rights defender aboard. Their actions are part of a collective refusal to accept the siege of Gaza as normal. Their presence on those boats is a reminder that silence is not an option, and that people across the world are choosing to act.

We will not stop.

We will keep sailing.

We will continue challenging Israel's illegal blockade.

We will keep confronting genocide, apartheid, occupation, and mass starvation- until Gaza is free, and justice is no longer a dream but reality.

Underway since August 22, the Global Sumud Flotilla was urgently carrying some 500 tons of aid, including tents, food, drinking water, medicine, baby formula, and necessities of life for people of all ages. Earlier in the day on Wednesday it was reported [1], that a spokesman for the Maghreb branch of the Global Sumud Flotilla, Waen Naouar, said on Facebook that "the Zionist (Israeli) vessels today intercepted Alma, the lead ship, but the other ships ignored Alma and continued toward Gaza". He added that when the flotilla regrouped around Sirius, the Israeli navy shifted focus there but was met with the same result as "the rest of the flotilla ignored Sirius and continued their journey to Gaza".

Israeli warships then tried to penetrate the flotilla from multiple sides to disperse it, but all ships manoeuvred and stayed on course, he said, describing the interception attempts as a test of the flotilla's resolve: "Even if you stop 47 vessels, the 48th will continue on to Gaza." After this attack by the Israeli regime in international waters an Al-Jazeera correspondent on board the flotilla reported that contact has been restored with the Alma ship after being lost for a short time. According to the correspondent, an Israeli vessel came within just five feet of the Alma, and jammed all of its communication systems, as well as its engine, rendering them inoperative. He added that participants on board the Alma threw their phones into the sea in line with the established security protocols. The correspondent later reported that the Israeli vessel had left the area, allowing the flotilla to resume its course toward the shores of the Gaza Strip.

The flotilla had already endured drone attacks and provocations of various sorts. Wael Nawar, the flotilla's coordinator, informed that in the early hours of September 24, drones attacked several vessels in the flotilla. No injuries or material damage were sustained, he said. "These tactics will not deter us from our mission to deliver aid to Gaza and break the illegal siege," the GSF said in a statement. "Every attempt to intimidate us only strengthens our commitment."

"The lengths to which 'Israel' and its allies will go to prolong the horrors of starvation and genocide in Gaza are sickening. But our resolve is stronger than ever," the Global Sumud Flotilla added. The flotilla later reported that the latest attack had delayed its expected arrival in Gaza by a day, and that an Israeli warplane had circled the convoy. Two drone attacks were previously carried out against the flotilla while it was docked at Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, on September 9.

Sumud is the Arabic word for steadfastness or resilience, and the flotilla sent a clear message that the peoples of the world stand with Gaza and the Resistance. Everywhere peoples are doing their utmost to intervene and organise for an end to the genocide, including demands for the US, Israel, and the Genocide 7 (G7) to uphold international humanitarian law. Participants include people from all walks of life, including workers from various fields, activists, medical professionals, journalists, lawyers, and members of parliament.

The Global Sumud Flotilla website informs that there were at least 45 country delegations taking part - from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean, as well as North America. This includes participation from almost all the Genocide 7 countries, including Britain, whose governments are amongst the most complicit with the genocide.

The size of the flotilla was planned as a major challenge for Israel to try to board all the vessels. This has already proved to be the case in the criminal attempt by the Israeli navy to stop the ships on Wednesday morning and hijack them in the evening. The Israeli navy is said to have between 50 to 70 ships. Previous attempts to bring aid to Gaza by sea have all been met with violent Israeli raids in international waters. However, most prior attempts had only single vessels, or at most six in the 2010 Freedom Flotilla that included the Mavi Marmara. In that instance, the Israeli Occupation Forces killed 10 members of the flotilla, and injured dozens more.

On September 16, foreign ministers from 16 countries issued a joint statement in support of the flotilla, that warned Israel from acting against it. The statement was issued by the governments of Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, and Türkiye. The foreign ministers expressed their concern about the flotilla's security, noting its objective of "delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and raising awareness about the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people and the need to stop the war in Gaza. Both objectives, peace and humanitarian aid delivery, together with the respect of international law, including humanitarian law, are shared by our Governments."

The foreign ministers of these 16 countries called on everyone to refrain from any unlawful or violent acts against the flotilla, to respect international law and international humanitarian law, and that "any violation of international law and human rights of the participants in the Flotilla, including attacks against the vessels in international waters or illegal detention, will lead to accountability."

The Global Sumud Flotilla along with the Freedom Flotilla are important acts of collective defiance by the peoples of the world, in the face of inaction or complicity by many governments, and the paralysis of the UN because of the US block to any attempts to hold Israel to account for a real ceasefire in Gaza and immediate withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and the West Bank and lifting the blockade. Instead the US and the Genocide 7 sink to lower and lower levels of depravity with Israel in trying to impose Israel's war aims in Gaza as a "peace plan" that continues the imposition of the occupation of Gaza and refuses the right of the Palestinians to self determination in their own lands. Even before Israel stepped up its crimes against the people of Gaza on October 7, 2023, and unleashed its genocide and now its policy of mass starvation, the people of Gaza, with their determined organised resistance, have been defying the current illegal, brutal, and inhuman Israeli blockade since 2007 . The Global Sumud Flotilla and Global Movement to Gaza called for mass demonstrations across the UK on Thursday, October 2.

Press Conferences of the Global Sumud Flotilla on the Israeli interception and attacks: https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalSumudFlotilla/streams
To track the progress of the Global Sumud Flotilla: https://globalsumudflotilla.org/tracker/

Notes
[1] Anadolu Ajansi, Mohammad Sio, 01.10.2025 - Update : 01.10.2025
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-bound-flotilla-organizer-says-israeli-navy-failed-in-interception-attempt-as-ships-near-gaza/3703874

(Sources: TML Supplement, Al-Jazeera, Middle East Eye, The Canary)

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