Bombay Durpun - Gaza flotilla organisers say 211 activists 'kidnapped' by Israel

Helene Coron, a spokeswoman for the Global Sumud France, told an online news conference that the operation had taken place near the island of Crete, at an "unprecedented" distance from Israel.

Yasmine Scola, an activist on board the flotilla, said her colleagues had been "kidnapped" by Israel.

Israel's foreign ministry had earlier put the number of those detained at 175.

Coron said those intercepted included Paris Communist municipal councillor Raphaelle Primet and another 10 French nationals.

"We don’t have the information for the other nationalities, but the boats were mixed in terms of nationality, so there were crew members from all 48 delegations," she said.

The organisers of the latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel's blockade on Gaza had announced early Thursday that their boats were surrounded by Israeli military ships while off the coast of the Greek island of Crete.

"At the time of publishing this statement (06:30 Paris time, 04:30 GMT), at least 22 of the flotilla's 58 boats have been stormed by Israeli forces in complete violation of international law," the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement.

Israel's foreign ministry derisively called the initiative a "condom flotilla" after prophylactics were found in a previous convoy, adding that 20 of the ships were "now making their way peacefully to Israel."

Scola said her ship was carrying school supplies and food.

The remaining boats in the flotilla are currently near Crete, according to the organisation's live tracking on its website.

The flotilla organisers on Thursday could not immediately give more details on what the remaining ships planned to do.

The flotilla set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy.

Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the flotilla said its boats had been "illegally surrounded" by Israeli vessels.

– 'Lasers and assault weapons' –

"Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as 'Israel', pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees," the organisation had said.

"Boat communications are being jammed and a SOS was issued."

A Greek coastguard source told AFP it had responded to a distress signal from the flotilla, but once its patrol boat reached the area it was told that no assistance was required.

In the summer and autumn of 2025, a first voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla across the Mediterranean towards Gaza drew worldwide attention.

The boats in that flotilla were intercepted by Israel off the coasts of Egypt and the Gaza Strip in early October.

The Israeli operation, described as illegal by the organisers and by Amnesty International, drew international condemnation.

Crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested and then expelled by Israel.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.

The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, and the war triggered by the Palestinian movement's attack on Israel has led to severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel.

A fragile ceasefire was reached last October after two years of devastating conflict.

Hamas's October 2023 attack killed 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures compiled by AFP.

Israeli military operations carried out in retaliation have killed more than 72,000 people in the Palestinian territory, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

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H.Majumdar--BD