Activists claim Israeli vessel approached and disrupted Gaza flotilla
The activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla said an unidentified vessel they claim was Israeli intimidated their fleet of boats and disabled communication on some in the early hours of Wednesday, as the group continues to inch closer to Gaza shores.
The Global Sumud Flotilla carrying activists and humanitarian aid to Gaza, attempting to break through Israel's naval blockade, said it was approached by what one of its members described as an Israeli military vessel in the early hours of Wednesday.
The ship, according to activist Thiago Avila and others, damaged communication systems on some of the boats within the fleet, including the lead boats Alma and Sirius, and performed “very dangerous maneuvers”.
In a collaborative post on Avila's Instagram page, a large vessel can be seen circling the flotilla’s fleet. It is unclear whether the ship the activist accused of the attack was indeed Israeli, as visibility was limited.
Euronews reviewed the video and could not independently verify the vessel's identity.
“Despite the loss of electronic devices, no one has been injured and we keep on going to Gaza to break the siege and create a humanitarian corridor,” Avila said on Instagram.
The group stated in a post on Telegram Wednesday that its vessels were around 120 nautical miles (222 kilometres) off Gaza when multiple unidentified vessels approached them, which they said had already left.
“Unidentified vessels approached a number of boats in the Flotilla, some with their lights off. Participants applied security protocols in preparation for an interception. The vessels have now left the Flotilla,” the post said.
It is unclear whether more than one vessel was involved in the alleged attack.
The group added that it is determined to outperform previous fleets and reach Gaza this time. The last two missions to sail, the Madleen in June, were intercepted by Israeli vessels around 100 nautical miles off the Strip, while the Handala reached 57 nautical miles.
Several European nations, including Spain and Italy, provided escort to the flotilla on parts of its journey, after reports of drone attacks near Greece.
The attacks come as Israeli forces continue to intensify their offensive on Gaza, which reaches the two-year mark in one week.
Palestinian medical sources say at least 42 people were killed in Tuesday’s attacks across the besieged territory, mainly in the north, where the IDF is conducting ground operations in Gaza City, and injuring close to 200 others.
The death toll has also now surpassed 66,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump unveiled his 21-point peace plan for Gaza alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an Oval Office meeting.
The plan would see the release of all remaining hostages held under Hamas captivity in Gaza, around 50, with approximately half of them believed to be still alive.
It would also see the disbandment of Hamas, who’d be given “safe passage” to exit Gaza into other countries or amnesty if they choose to remain in the enclave, and the appointment of a provisional oversight government, led by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Trump says “all the Arab countries” have agreed to his proposal, along with Israel, though countries like Qatar have offered a different perspective, on Tuesday claiming that “more discussions” were needed before they could endorse his plan.
Trump also noted that Hamas is the last remaining party that must accept this deal for it to go forward, urging it to take this proposal and warning it of serious consequences in the failure to do so.
Gaza-bound flotilla rejects Israeli claims of Hamas funding
The Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that documents found in Gaza prove Hamas’ direct involvement in the humanitarian mission.
A spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla on Tuesday rejected accusations by the Israeli Foreign Ministry that the humanitarian convoy has been financed by Hamas, describing them as propaganda.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry published on its X account two documents that it claimed “prove Hamas’ direct involvement in the funding and execution of the Sumud Flotilla”.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the documents were discovered in the Gaza Strip and were being revealed for the first time.
The first document is a letter from 2021, signed by top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran by an Israeli attack in 2024. It revealed a close link between Hamas and the organisation Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad.
The Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad was established in Turkey in 2017 by the Palestinian diaspora from around the world to involve it in political participation and national decision-making.
It regularly releases statements on the current situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and other issues related to Palestine.
PCPA was designated “an institution established by the Hamas Organisation” by the Israeli Ministry of Defence in August 2021, which considers it “a proxy for the Hamas organization”.
A second document lists PCPA members operating mainly in Europe, including Saif Abu Kashk, the alleged CEO of Cyber Neptune, a private Spanish maritime company that “owns dozens of the ships participating in the Sumud Flotilla”, according to the accusations.
According to Spanish registers, a person named Saif Abdelrahim Abukeshek is listed as the CEO of Cyber Neptune, a society based in Barcelona. According to the publicly available records, the company changed its corporate purpose from real estate to maritime transportation of people and goods, with Abukeshek taking control just days before the Global Sumud Flotilla's departure on 31 August.
Abukeshek has repeatedly rejected accusations by the Israeli government of his involvement with Hamas, stating on social media that “My work with Cyber Neptune and the flotilla has been fully transparent and focused solely on delivering life-saving aid to Gaza’s besieged population.”
Euronews could not independently verify whether the company owns any vessels joining the Flotilla. Spanish maritime records did not have any public information available on ships owned by Cyber Neptune.
Euronews was also not able to independently verify the authenticity of the documents, although they seem to be consistent in language and appearance with official communiques from Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the EU, US and other countries in the world.
The Global Sumud Flotilla spokesperson Maria Elena Delia labelled Israel’s claim as “propaganda”, in a statement released to news agency Ansa.
“The papers shown by Israel prove neither Hamas' financing nor control over the Global Sumud Flotilla,” she said.
“We are a civil and humanitarian mission, in the eyes of Europe and the world. We ask that the papers be handed over in full to independent bodies: until that happens, [this claim] is just propaganda, not evidence,” she added.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international civil society-led maritime initiative comprising over 50 vessels with thousands of participants from more than 44 countries.
It has not been endorsed by any governments, and its stated mission aimed at breaking Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and delivering humanitarian aid including food and medicine to the besieged Palestinian territory has been repeatedly challenged by Israel.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused the flotilla of being Hamas-led and “sailing without authorisation and in violation of international law, to break the blockade on Gaza, which is also defined as a war zone.”
“This is a coordinated Hamas attack against the State of Israel, under a seemingly civilian and humanitarian cover,” the statement said.
Delia said Israel was repeating "a troubling pattern already seen in 2010 with the Mavi Marmara”, referring to an incident 15 years ago.
At that time six civilian ships of what organisers called the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” refused to stop after having received a warning from the Israeli Navy and were raided in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, with 10 deaths resulting from the raid.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is currently navigating north of Egypt’s eastern coast, and by late Wednesday should reach a zone in international waters where boats attempting to break the naval blockade around Gaza have previously been intercepted by the Israeli navy.
Euronews has contacted MEPs Benedetta Scuderi (Greens/EFA) and Annalisa Corrado (S&D) for further comment.
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