SYRACUSE, Italy - The Global Sumud Flotilla, which seeks to bypass an Israeli blockade on Gaza, announced Wednesday that vessels of its fleet have been intercepted military speedboats that "self-identified as 'Israel'" as they transited waters near Greece.

The official Flotilla Instagram account issued an update saying that the boarding cew pointed "lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons" at occupants and ordered them to get on their hands and knees.

"Boat communications are being jammed and an SOS was issued."

 A British activist, during an Instagram live stream with the UK delegation of the Global Sumud Flotilla, reported that several vessels in the humanitarian fleet were boarded Wednesday night in international waters, claiming that this fact rendered the intercept "illegal."

The activist in question expressed his view that the intercepting boats belonged to the Greek authorities, but later received information from a Greenpeace vessel that the boarding party identified itself over the radio as Israeli.

Conveying the message, he said that the Israeli forces ordered the Flotilla vessels to "return to their port of origin."

#BREAKING: The Global Sumud Flotilla shares a video purporting to show a speaker self-identifying as a member of the Israeli Navy ordering vessels to return to their port of origin or the Israeli port of Ashdod pic.twitter.com/082MCUIsrO

— The New Region (@thenewregion) April 29, 2026

While noting that his own boat had not yet been boarded, the activist stated that the vessel has been approached by drones since Tuesday night and reported hearing what sounded like “airguns.” 

The activist claimed to have spotted at least two warships and 20 drones in the vicinity.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the biggest humanitarian fleet that has sought to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza, set sail from Sicily on Sunday, with one of the organization’s coordinators telling The New Region that they feel “very confident” about succeeding this time.

With activists from nearly 60 countries manning a fleet of over 80 vessels – nearly double the size of the previous effort – organizer and prominent activist Thiago Avila told The New Region he was “sure we will make it.”

READ MORE: Gaza aid flotilla ‘very confident’ of breaching Israeli blockade

He said that the mission’s scope extends “not only to Gaza and Palestine,” warning that “the violence spreads across and affects the entire world,” pointing to escalating conflicts in multiple regions.

Also on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that he has “imposed sanctions” to the fundraising operations of the Global Sumud Flotilla, the biggest humanitarian fleet that has sought to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The move is “intended to deter donors from contributing to a terror organization,” Katz said, claiming that the movement is “organized by the Hamas terror organization, in cooperation with additional international organizations and under the guise of a humanitarian aid flotilla.”

Similar allegations of Hamas affiliation were leveled by Israel last September during the first Sumud mission but were largely debunked by independent observers.

"We must remember that a genocide is still unfolding in Gaza, and 60 percent of the Strip is now controlled by the Israeli military," said Maria Elena Delia, the Italian representative for the Flotilla, highlighting that nearly 800 people have been killed since the last October ceasefire brokered by United States President Donald Trump.

Despite the agreements stating that waters up to 12 nautical miles offshore should be under Palestinian control, the Israeli navy maintains a constant patrol of the area. Israel's official naval blockade, which is deemed illegal under international law, extends 20 miles out, yet military vessels frequently intercept boats long before they even reach territorial waters.

Last September’s mission, which brought together boats from Sicily, Barcelona, Genoa, and Tunisia, ended in a violent military crackdown that broke international law. The crew chose to press on even after their ships were targeted by suspected drone-based arson attacks off the coasts of Tunisia and Crete. Yet, on the night of October 1, the Israeli navy intercepted and boarded the vessels in international waters, about 72 miles out at sea.

READ MORE: Exclusive interview with Finnish-Kurdish Global Sumud Flotilla participant Renaz Ebrahimi