21 detained after Israeli troops board Gaza-bound boat

Israeli troops have boarded a boat which the pro-Palestinian activist group Freedom Flotilla had been sailing towards Gaza on Saturday, according to a livestream.

Crew members during the Handal’s boat's departure for the intended destination of Gaza at a port in Syracuse, Sicily, earlier this month. Picture: Giovanni Isolino / AFP

Israeli troops boarded a boat which the pro-Palestinian activist group Freedom Flotilla had been sailing towards Gaza on Saturday, according to a livestream broadcast by the group.

The broadcast showed the activists sitting on the deck of the Handala, holding their hands up and whistling the Italian anti-fascist song Bella Ciao, as the soldiers took control of the vessel.

The Handala had been on course to try to break an Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and bring a small quantity of humanitarian aid to the territory’s Palestinian residents.

Three video live feeds of the scene, which had been broadcast online, were cut minutes later.

In a message on social media, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition declared: “Handala has been intercepted and boarded illegally by Israeli forces whilst in international waters.”

An online tracking tool set up to plot the Handala’s course showed the boat’s position as roughly 50km from the Egyptian coast and 100km west of Gaza when intercepted.

There was no immediate confirmation of the operation from the Israeli military, but earlier in the day it had announced it would enforce “the legal maritime security blockade on the Gaza Strip”.

The Handala was carrying 19 activists, including European politicians, and two Al Jazeera journalists, who were able to broadcast from the vessel until shortly before its interception.

Two French MPs, Emma Fourreau and Gabrielle Cathala, were among those detained.

Their party leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon of France Unbowed (LFI), condemned Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu.

“Netanyahu’s thugs boarded Handala. They attack 21 unarmed people in territorial waters where they have no right. A kidnapping in which two French parliamentarians are victims,” he posted on X.

Mr Melenchon demanded the French government take action.

Gaza is facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, with the UN and NGOs warning of an imminent famine.

The Handala’s crew said in a post on X that they would go on a hunger strike if the Israeli army intercepted the boat and detained its passengers.

The last boat sent by Freedom Flotilla, the Madleen, was intercepted by the Israeli army in international waters on June 9 and towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

It carried 12 campaigners on board, including prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. These activists were eventually expelled by Israel.

AFP