The IDF began taking control late Wednesday of the Global Sumud Flotilla's Spring 2026 Mission, which was west of Crete and sailing toward the Gaza Strip, though it had been expected to arrive only next week.
Flotilla activists claimed their boats were attacked by Israel “with semiautomatic weapons.” An Israeli official said Israel was enforcing the naval blockade. “This is a decision by the political echelon,” the official said. The Foreign Ministry mocked the flotilla, saying the “medical aid” found on board consisted of “condoms and drugs.”
Contraceptives and narcotics found by Israeli forces on board the Global Sumud Flotilla
(Video: from X)
According to a tracking site following the flotilla’s vessels, most of the boats were hundreds of miles from Israel’s coast, off western Crete. An Israeli official said the decision to intercept the flotilla at such a great distance, in international waters, stemmed from its size: more than 100 vessels carrying about 1,000 activists.
Flotilla organizers wrote on social media that “motorboats identified with Israel approached our boats while armed with semiautomatic weapons. Participants in the flotilla were ordered to move to the front of the ships and get down on their hands and knees.”
In another video posted online by participants, the Israeli Navy can be heard hailing the flotilla. “This is the Israeli Navy. Attempts to breach the lawful maritime security blockade of the Gaza Strip constitute a violation of international law,” the message said.
The Israeli Navy warns members of the Sumud Flotilla to change course
(Video: from social media)
“If you wish to legally transfer aid to Gaza, you may do so through established and recognized channels. Please change your course and return to your port of origin. If you are carrying humanitarian aid, you are invited to proceed to the Port of Ashdod, where the aid will undergo security inspection and subsequently be transferred to the Gaza Strip.”
“You are required to change your course,” the message continued. “Any further attempt to sail toward Gaza places your safety at risk and leaves the IDF no choice but to take all necessary measures at its disposal to enforce a lawful maritime security blockade. It is dangerous to remain on your current course. If you continue your attempt to breach the maritime blockade, we will stop your vessel and act to seize it through legal proceedings in court. You bear full responsibility for your actions.”
Earlier, the IDF said it was enforcing the maritime security blockade on the Gaza Strip and was prepared for a range of scenarios, to be carried out in accordance with instructions from the political echelon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also cut short his testimony Wednesday in his ongoing corruption trial, saying he had to attend a meeting at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. It later emerged that the meeting concerned the flotilla.
The flotilla, called the “Global Sumud Flotilla” by its organizers, is believed to include about 100 vessels carrying some 1,000 activists from several countries. Most of the boats are in the area of Crete, about 1,000 kilometers, or 620 miles, from Gaza’s coast. As in previous flotillas, organizers say their goal is to break the naval blockade of Gaza, but not only that.
In a statement issued earlier, the flotilla’s organizers said it was part of “a broad global movement at sea and on land” working to dismantle systems that enable “apartheid, occupation, ethnic cleansing and genocide.”
They said the campaign was not focused only on the naval blockade, but also on what they called “the war system behind it.” The organizers said their initiative reflected civil society’s intention to act “where governments have failed,” adding that they planned to act “at sea, in the streets and at the centers of power that enable the violence. We will not normalize genocide. We will not accept impunity. We will disrupt it — everywhere.”
The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday evening that “the driving force behind the flotilla provocation is Hamas - joining hands with professional provocateurs - with the aim of sabotaging President Trump’s peace plan transition to its second phase and intended to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm.”
The ministry said that following UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which adopted Trump’s peace plan, humanitarian activity in Gaza had been managed by the Board of Peace and the Civil-Military Coordination Center. It said the CMCC had sent “enormous quantities” of humanitarian aid into Gaza, adding that since October 2025 alone, more than 1.5 million tons of humanitarian aid and thousands of tons of medical equipment had entered the strip.
“Like previous provocations, this is nothing but a PR stunt: a provocation without humanitarian aid,” the ministry said. “As international media have exposed, these are professional provocateurs on pleasure cruises, addicted to self-promotion.”