GLOBAL BACKLASH AS ISRAELI SEIZES 14 GAZA AID BOATS

Israeli forces have intercepted 14 boats carrying aid and foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza, leaving only one vessel still sailing towards the Palestinian enclave, the flotilla organisers said on Thursday 2 October 2025.
Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats showed Israeli soldiers sporting helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled together in life vests with their hands up.
A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Thunberg, the most prominent of the flotilla's passengers, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
According to a tracker on the organiser, Global Sumud Flotilla's website, one boat was still sailing.
"Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port," the Israeli foreign ministry said on X. "Greta and her friends are safe and healthy."
The flotilla, which set sail in late August, is transporting medicine and food to Gaza and consists of more than 40 civilian vessels with about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists. It's the highest-profile symbol of opposition to Israel's blockade of Gaza.
The flotilla's progress across the Mediterranean Sea garnered international attention as nations including Turkey, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.