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Screenshot of GSF X posting confirming its interception by the Israeli military,1:06 AM \u00b7 Apr 30, 2026 [Photo: Global Sumud Flotilla\/X]<\/p>\nIsrael, aided by Greece, has kidnapped hundreds of people sailing in the Mediterranean as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF). The flotilla was bound for Gaza to protest the ongoing Israeli siege with a symbolic delivery of essential aid. Twenty-two of 60 boats were intercepted.<\/p>\n
This was a violent act of piracy, carried out by Israeli armed forces 600 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, in international waters, with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm and even murder. <\/p>\n
Screenshot of GSF X posting confirming its interception by the Israeli military,1:06 AM \u00b7 Apr 30, 2026 [Photo: Global Sumud Flotilla\/X]<\/p>\n
Protesters report being fired upon by live and rubber ammunition and being manhandled with their hands tied. Three-dozen people suffered broken ribs and noses, serious neck injuries, and being knocked unconscious.<\/p>\n
The GSF released a statement denouncing \u201cthe unlawful seizure of human beings on the open sea near Crete,\u201d an \u201cassertion that Israel can operate with total impunity, far beyond its own borders, with no consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It continued, \u201cSilence from world governments signals that international law applies selectively and that the lives of civilians can be targeted by Israel, anywhere in the world, at any time, with no consequences. We demand accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
The worst violence was directed against those trying to peacefully resist the abduction of two organisers: Thiago \u00c1vila and Saif Abu Keshek. They remain in Israeli custody, appearing in court in Ashkelon on Sunday, where they were remanded for a further four days of interrogation.<\/p>\n
\u00c1vila, speaking through his lawyers, reported being \u201csubjected to extreme brutality\u201d when kidnapped, including being \u201cdragged face-down across the floor and beaten so severely that he passed out twice\u201d. <\/p>\n
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Abu Keshek was kept handcuffed and blindfolded face-down on the floor all the way back to Israel. A statement released by the flotilla organisers reports, \u201cEyewitnesses have testified to the screams of Abu Keshek echoing throughout the ship as he was systematically tortured after being separated from the others\u201d.<\/p>\n
Both men are being kept in isolation in the Shikma detention facility, where they are held without charge.<\/p>\n The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Adalah, told the media after a visit that they were now on hunger strike in protest. It stated that the \u201cthe treatment of the two activists, including the use of isolation, prolonged blindfolding and physical beatings, constitutes a grave violation of international law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00c1vila was seized and detained during a previous sailing to Israel in autumn 2025, suffering abuse in the Ketziot prison.<\/p>\n 178 other members of the flotilla were taken aboard the Israeli naval vessel Nahshon, where they report being denied food and water and being forced to sleep on a repeatedly flooded floor for the 40-hour journey to the Greek island of Crete, where local authorities were waiting to bus them away.<\/p>\n Others were left stranded at sea, in what the GSF called \u201ca calculated death trap,\u201d explaining, \u201cAfter smashing engines and destroying navigation arrays, the military retreated \u2013 intentionally leaving\u2026 civilians stranded on powerless, broken vessels directly in the path of a massive approaching storm.\u201d<\/p>\n All protest voyages to Gaza have been subjected to extreme violence and kidnapping, in flagrant violation of international law. In May last year, the Conscience<\/a> was hit by drones off the coast of Malta, requiring rescue. In June, the Madleen<\/a> was raided, its crew arrested and deported. <\/p>\n Last autumn, a flotilla was attacked<\/a> by drones during its journey then intercepted<\/a> roughly 65 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, again with individuals seized and detained in Israel for multiple days.<\/p>\n That the latest seizure was carried out hundreds of miles further from its borders reflects the growing impunity with which Israel is allowed to act as an imperialist outpost\u2014in the Gaza genocide and the war on Iran and Lebanon\u2014above all on behalf of the United States.<\/p>\n US officials gave their full support for the attack on the flotilla, threatening European governments who did not do the same. State department spokesperson Thomas Pigott declared the protest \u201ca pro-Hamas initiative and a baseless, counterproductive effort to undermine President Trump\u2019s Peace Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the US expected its allies \u201cto take decisive action against this meaningless political stunt by denying port access, docking, departure, and refuelling to vessels participating in the flotilla,\u201d as well as by ensuring participants face \u201cany applicable legal consequences.\u201d The US would \u201cexplore using available tools to impose\u201d its own \u201cconsequences on those who provide support to this pro-Hamas flotilla\u201d.<\/p>\n European governments are doubly guilty: firstly, for allowing Israel to carry out its illegal operation in international waters, with Greece\u2019s direct involvement, and secondly for abandoning their citizens to this criminal regime.<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s Labour government has remained silent, despite two British nationals being among those wounded by Israeli forces. It has ignored a letter from a small group of MPs demanding it \u201cimmediately ascertain\u201d the condition of individuals involved, issue a statement \u201ccondemning any unlawful interference with civilian shipping\u201d and \u201cinsist upon the immediate cessation\u201d of such interference by Israel.<\/p>\n The German and Italian governments issued an anodyne joint statement noting \u201cwith great concern developments regarding the Global Sumud Flotilla\u201d, calling \u201cfor a full respect of international applicable law\u201d and claiming \u201cOur common utmost priority is to ensure the security of our citizens\u201d while avoiding any direct criticism of Israel.<\/p>\n A call \u201cfor restraint from irresponsible actions\u201d is outrageously directed at the protesters, while the recommitment to \u201cthe international community to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza\u201d continues the official whitewash of Israel\u2019s imperialist-backed ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n Italy went marginally further by stating separately that it \u201ccondemns the seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels\u201d and calling \u201con Israel to immediately release all the unlawfully detained Italians\u201d.<\/p>\n The Spanish government has been the most outspoken, with Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez declaring, \u201cWe demand the release of the Spanish citizen [Abu Keshek] who has been unlawfully detained by Netanyahu\u2019s government,\u201d adding that \u201cIsrael is once again violating international law by attacking a civilian flotilla in waters that do not belong to it\u201d.<\/p>\n Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares criticised the \u201cillegal detention\u201d of Abu Keshek, saying, \u201cOf course, it is a kidnapping\u201d and demanding he be \u201creleased immediately\u201d. Israel\u2019s charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires Dana Erlich was formally summoned by the foreign ministry.<\/p>\n Rome and Madrid will have particular concern over the popular response<\/a> to this latest Israeli outrage, after the raids last October prompted mass protests, as well as strikes and blockades of ports. <\/p>\n In Italy, this led within days to a general strike<\/a> and million-strong demonstration in Rome, plus tens of thousands more in other cities. In Spain, hundreds of thousands marched<\/a> in Barcelona and in Madrid, followed by a wave of protest strikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rallies have already been held across the two counties, plus Greece, T\u00fcrkiye and elsewhere, protesting Israel\u2019s actions and local government complicity.<\/p>\n Join the fight against the Gaza genocide and imperialist war!<\/p>\n Fill out this form and we\u2019ll contact you soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel, aided by Greece, has kidnapped hundreds of people sailing in the Mediterranean as part of the Global…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[33753,23848,307,37,33754,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-95934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-gaz","9":"tag-global-sumud-flotilla","10":"tag-greece","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-kidnap","13":"tag-war"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116511902616650238","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/26b604a0-8a94-44e5-bac8-4cd57b0fab72.png\"\/)
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