Original article: Israel completa ataque contra la Flotilla Sumud: denuncian 428 civiles secuestrados en aguas internacionales In a nearly 35-hour naval operation, Israel has completed a violent assault on the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition in international waters, abducting 428 civilians who are participating in this humanitarian mission aimed at breaking the illegal blockade imposed by the Zionist regime against Gaza. According to the organization’s statement, «the closest ship, the Ramle (Sirius),» managed to reach about 80 nautical miles from the coast of the Palestinian enclave «before being illegally and violently rammed by an Israeli vessel A833D and subsequently intercepted. » It is important to note that the flotilla had resumed its journey from the Turkish port of Marmaris with 54 boats to transport food, medical supplies, and essential assistance for the Palestinian people in Gaza.
However, on Monday, it reported that its vessels had once again fallen victim to interception by Israeli warships 250 nautical miles from the coast of the enclave. In its statement, the GSF indicated that the 428 civilians who were illegally abducted by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) come from over 40 countries, includingChileans Claudio Caiozzi, Carolina Eltit, Víctor Chanfreau, and Ignacio Ladrón de Guevara, the latter being a member of the Spanish delegation. «Doctors, journalists, students, organizers, lawyers, parents, and human rights defenders were sailing to break the illegal siege of Israel and open a humanitarian corridor for the Palestinian people,» stated the organization.
Netanyahu Oversaw the Assault on the Vessels and Activists They also noted that although Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime knew that the activists were unarmed and peaceful, it proceeded with a violent escalation, «because it wanted to send a clear message of intimidation to anyone who challenges the genocide, and the impunity and complicity that enables it. » According to their account, the Israeli military fired upon six different vessels, used water cannons, and intentionally rammed one of the ships. The operation was allegedly supervised personally by Netanyahu from the operational war room of the navy, along with high-ranking military officials and ministers from his cabinet.
Even the Israeli Prime Minister congratulated the occupation forces for acting «silently» and thwarting what he described as a plan to break the “isolation” imposed on Gaza. However, the GSF emphasized that the systems of isolation cannot sustain themselves, as they require «walls, guards, weapons, and the silence and complicity of countries worldwide. » “This is why a civil flotilla of small boats was met with a massive naval response from the Israeli regime,” they stated.
«No state deploys its highest command levels against unarmed civilians unless something deeper than physical security is threatened. What was threatened here was not the territory. It was the narrative — the same narrative that has kept the world silent while Palestinians have lived under occupation, abuse, and apartheid for nearly 80 years,” they emphasized.
Flotilla Demands Release of the 428 Civilians Abducted by Israel The flotilla stated that the 428 abducted civilians are currently missing, without access to lawyers or consulates, and their families have not received information about their whereabouts, prompting them to demand that both the governments of the activists’ countries and the international community call for their immediate and unconditional release. «Their detention is an extension of the same system that has kept nearly 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners and hostages under an even more brutal architecture of confinement, coercion, and colonial violence. What has already been documented is not an anomaly.
It is a pattern. Accounts from participants of the flotilla released after previous interceptions earlier this month describe torture, physical assaults, and sexual violence,” they warned. Despite the interception of the boats, the members of the humanitarian mission made it clear that they will not stop their commitment to Palestine and highlighted that in the hours following the Israeli attack, more than 500,000 people sent letters to their governments demanding action, and dozens of protests erupted in ports and cities around the world while legal teams are already preparing complaints against the commanders and political figures involved.
“They intercepted wood and steel. The narrative has already collapsed (…) We will not stop until the siege is broken, Palestinian prisoners are free, and Palestinian liberation becomes a reality,” they declared.