Israel Attacks Another Gaza-Bound Aid Flotilla

Date: 08 October 2025 - 21:09

News ID: ۱۴۴۳۹۵

BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- Israeli forces once again escalated their oppressive blockade on Gaza Wednesday by intercepting multiple humanitarian aid boats in international waters, demonstrating a blatant disregard for international law and basic human rights.
The Global Sumud Flotilla reported that three vessels — the Gaza Sunbirds, the Alaa Al-Najjar, and the Anas Al-Sharif — were intercepted 220 kilometers off Gaza’s coast.
An Israeli army helicopter attacked another ship, the Conscience, carrying over 90 people, including journalists and medics, highlighting Israel’s ruthless approach to preventing aid from reaching the starving population.
In a further blatant act of aggression, Israeli forces seized the boat Milad as well. The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed the flotilla’s humanitarian mission as a “futile attempt” to enter what it calls a “combat zone,” calling for the immediate expulsion of the ships and passengers.
This rhetoric masks a cruel strategy to maintain an illegal and suffocating blockade that has devastated Gaza for nearly two decades.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a network of pro-Palestinian activists, condemned Israel’s attack on their vessels, exposing the violent tactics used to enforce this inhumane siege.
Video footage showed Israeli soldiers smashing CCTV cameras aboard the Gaza Sunbird, an act aimed at erasing evidence of their unlawful boarding and intimidation of civilians.
The coalition emphasized that their flotilla was carrying vital humanitarian aid — medicines, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies worth over $110,000 — desperately needed in Gaza’s starving hospitals.
Adalah, a legal aid group that has been consistently advocating for and representing activists abroad different mission flotillas over the past few months, said on Wednesday, “Before losing all communication early this morning, participants aboard the Conscience - primarily doctors, nurses, and journalists - reported being attacked by an Israeli military helicopter, while Israeli naval forces simultaneously intercepted and boarded the Thousands Madleens sailboats.”
It added, “The vessels were located approximately 120 nautical miles from Gaza, deep in international waters, when the attack took place.” Adalah said it would represent these activists as well.
Israel’s military aggressions in international waters flagrantly violate legal norms, as the flotilla posed no threat. Yet, Israel’s relentless blockade and brutal assaults on aid convoys reveal a calculated effort to choke Gaza’s population, exacerbating a humanitarian catastrophe.
Nearly 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza have endured over 18 years of this siege, intensified since March when Israel sealed border crossings, blocking food, medicine, and essentials.
The result has been catastrophic — since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, leaving Gaza uninhabitable.