The Israeli military arrested some 175 activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla after intercepting it in international waters off Greece, the country's Foreign Ministry and the flotilla's organizers said Thursday.
"Approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats ... are now making their way peacefully to Israel," the ministry said in a statement.
The statement included a video of the activists aboard an Israeli navy ship.
The organizers of the latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel's blockade on Gaza had announced shortly beforehand 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.
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.
The remaining boats in the flotilla are currently near Crete, according to the organization's live tracking on its website.
"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 organization had said.
"Boat communications are being jammed and an SOS was issued."
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 organizers 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 its genocidal war in October 2023.
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007 and the war triggered by the Hamas incursion into Israel has led to severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel.
A fragile cease-fire was reached last October after two years of devastating conflict.
The Hamas incursion in October 2023 caused 1,221deaths, according to official Israeli figures.
In comparison, the Israeli genocide in Gaza killed more than 72,000 people, mostly women and children, in the Palestinian territory, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
