Israeli forces raid Gaza-bound aid flotilla near Crete, kidnap activists as Greece accused of complicity

Shortly afterwards, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that around 175 activists from more than 20 flotilla vessels were being taken to Israel, releasing footage which it said showed activists aboard Israeli vessels. Earlier, the flotilla’s official account had said that 15 boats had been seized by Israeli forces.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, reacted sharply, writing:

‘How is it possible that Israel is allowed to attack and seize vessels in international waters, just off Greece and Europe? Beyond whatever one may think of Israel’s apartheid and its genocidal leaders, this should shock the whole of Europe. Apartheid without borders.’

Despite repeated attempts to contact the Greek Ministry of Shipping and the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and despite continuous distress signals to the Hellenic Coast Guard, the Greek authorities did not respond, even though the flotilla was in a SAR zone under Greek responsibility. The March to Gaza initiative accused the Greek state of complicity in the abduction of the activists and the seizure of their boats by Israel, in violation of international law.

The initiative has called for a protest today at 18:00 outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens. In its statement, it said:

‘Emergency protest gathering at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 18:00

Israel attacked the Freedom Flotilla with Greece’s direct cooperation.

Flotilla vessels were illegally intercepted in the Greek SAR zone, with the Greek coast guard watching from afar.

We will not remain silent.
All of us in the streets.
We will not stop sailing.

A mobilisation will take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today at 18:00 in Athens.

We call on you in every city, in every corner of Greece, to take to the streets to raise our voices against Greek complicity, but also to guarantee that the flotilla will continue its course towards Gaza.

Free Palestine.’

Iasonas Apostolopoulos, coordinator and member of March to Gaza, said: ‘If the Greek state did not know about the illegal military attack, we are talking about criminal negligence, since genocidal armies are operating right under its nose. If it knew and allowed it, then it is complicit in an internationally prosecutable crime, piracy and abduction. In any case, it is accountable.’

He called for mass participation in the rally.

Gur Chambar, a spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla, described the seizure of the vessels as a ‘direct attack on unarmed civilian vessels in international waters’. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Toronto, Chambar said the attack at sea had taken place ‘hundreds of miles from Israel’, with the mission ‘surrounded and threatened with weapons’.

‘This is illegal under international law. Israel has no jurisdiction over these waters. Seizing these vessels amounts to illegal detention, potentially kidnapping at sea,’ Chambar said.

‘It is critical that all governments act now. Every government has an obligation to protect the more than 400 citizens on board the boats and to uphold international law. Silence at this point is absolute complicity.’

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said in a social media post that the mission had been ‘stopped before it approached our area’ and that Israeli soldiers had acted with ‘decisiveness’ against a group of ‘attention-seeking idiots’.

Tariq Ra’ouf, a writer and activist aboard one of the boats, told Al Jazeera that the mission had been surrounded by large Israeli warships, from which smaller military speedboats were deployed.

‘From these warships, a series of small fast military boats began to surround many of our boats. Drones were circling us and shining lights on us. And we received messages from the Israeli army over the radio, telling us that we were violating international law and that we had to stop,’ Ra’ouf said.

The Israeli operation lasted several hours, according to Ra’ouf, who said the mission was in international waters near Crete when the raid began.

‘We are in international waters, and this is really unprecedented from Israel, because we are very far from Gaza,’ he added.

In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said: ‘Tonight, the world is witnessing the export of the Israeli military’s doctrine of engineered abandonment. In a violent raid in international waters, Israeli naval forces have intercepted, boarded and systematically disabled various boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla.’