Israeli forces illegally detained 223 international activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, organizers said Thursday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said on X social media that 15 boats were confirmed attacked by the Israeli forces since late Wednesday, while eight others were likely to be or currently under attack.
The flotilla shared on Instagram the names and nationalities of 223 activists aboard the attacked vessels.
Meanwhile, the official flotilla tracker showed that 20 vessels have been attacked by the Israeli forces, while 24 others continue on their way to Gaza.
According to Erdem Özveren, a Turkish activist from the global mission, their vessel was less than 30 nautical miles (55.56 kilometers) away from Gaza.
The flotilla, loaded mainly with humanitarian aid and medical supplies, set sail at the end of August. It was the first time in years that more than 50 ships had sailed together toward Gaza, carrying over 500 civilian activists from over 45 countries.
Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to a population of nearly 2.4 million, for nearly 18 years, and further tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.
Since October 2023, Israel's genocidal war has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The U.N. and rights groups have repeatedly warned that the enclave is being rendered uninhabitable, with starvation and disease spreading rapidly.
