Global Sumud Flotilla, Israel intercepts 50 boats off the coast of Crete | EUROtoday

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The Global Sumud Flotilladirected to Gaza to ship humanitarian support, was intercepted throughout the evening by Israeli patrol boats west of Crete in worldwide waters. The Tel Aviv Navy says it has seized approx 50 boats with 400 activists on board “hundreds of kilometers from the Israeli coast” and that he had knowledgeable the folks on board that he was “under arrest”.

A video launched on Telegram reveals a crew of a Flotilla boat with their fingers raised and an armed soldier boarding. «Dangerous and unprecedented escalation», the activists commented, «the kidnapping of civilians in the course of the Mediterranean, over 960 kilometers from Gaza, earlier than the eyes of the entire world. This is piracy. Governments should act now to guard the Flotilla and maintain Israel accountable for these flagrant violations of the legislation.”

«Every government has an obligation to protect the more than 400 civilians on board and to respect international law. Silence at this moment is total complicity,” added the press secretary. “Immediate intervention is needed to ensure the safety of the flotilla and to ensure that the humanitarian corridor to Gaza can be opened.”

A Tel Aviv official said that due to the size of the Flotilla, it was decided to intercept it at a great distance from the Israeli coast. The Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani he immediately asked theCrisis Unit and the embassies in Tel Aviv and Athens to obtain information from the local authorities to protect the Italians on board.