Mass protests erupted across Europe Thursday after the takeover of the Sumud flotilla to Gaza — even as Israel prepared to deport the activists. The Israeli Navy said it seized 40 boats carrying about 400 activists in a roughly 12-hour operation that involved no violent incidents. One vessel sank and the navy rescued those aboard; another boat, named Marinette, remained underway. Israel warned that if any vessel tried to approach the blockade or enter what it defined as an “active combat area” it would be prevented from doing so.
Deportations of hundreds of flotilla activists from Israel are to begin Friday. Those who sign voluntary deportation papers will be expelled immediately; those who refuse will be transferred to a custody facility and face legal proceedings until a judge orders deportation. Detainees are being held at the Ketziot prison facility, and representatives of their home countries are to try to persuade them to sign for voluntary removal.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Europe: London, Barcelona and ROme
(Video: Reuters)
Interior Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Ashdod port on Thursday evening, and a senior police official said Ben-Gvir yelled at police commissioner Danny Levi over activists not being handcuffed as was specified in operational assessments. Police denied such an incident occurred; “There was no such event,” according to Ben-Gvir’s office, “There was no such event.”
Israeli authorities plan to fly most Europeans home on a special charter to a European country; others will be deported via the Allenby crossing and commercial flights. Among the detained were activists from Turkey, France, Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Algeria, Colombia and the United States, as well as Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Israel said the ships would not be scuttled and that the state would seek their seizure and confiscation, as it has in previous flotilla cases.
The Navy’s action and the arrests sparked large demonstrations across Europe. In Manchester — not far from the synagogue where two Jews were killed in an antisemitic attack hours earlier — protesters waving Palestinian flags gathered at Piccadilly Station, chanting slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Stop starving Gaza.”
An X user quoted by the Daily Mail wrote: "How disgusting to allow this to go ahead today. Imagine how every Jewish person living in Manchester feels, absolutely abhorrent!"; another protester was quoted as saying, “I don't give a f*** about the Jewish community right now.” One of those present compared the terrorist attack to the "distress" Greta Thunberg experienced when the flotilla was taken over.
Clashes broke out between police and protesters in London; authorities said demonstrators had temporarily moved away from the entrance to Parliament Square but were expected to return.
In Geneva, police used tear gas and water cannon as about 3,000 people rallied; police said protesters threw objects and caused property damage while spraying graffiti. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations also took place in Bern.
Sumud flotilla activists throw phones into the sea before arrest
(Video: From X platform)
Taking control of the flotilla boats
(Video: From X platform)
The moment of Greta Thunberg's arrest on a flotilla ship
(Video: Israel Interior Ministry)
Italy — which had taken initial responsibility for organizing the flotilla — saw thousands protest in Florence, where fireworks and smoke grenades were launched and central streets were blocked. Demonstrators also disrupted train services and scrawled slogans such as “Free Palestine” on cars; protesters occupied the rector’s office building at the University of Pisa.
Spain’s El País reported that some 15,000 people rallied in Barcelona against Israel, with some demonstrators chanting “Drive out the occupying forces.” Video from the protests showed at least one person smashing a window with a hammer. In Madrid protesters marched to the foreign ministry; 72-year-old Inés Monroy told reporters she came because “they are killing living beings — it’s insane,” and said she wept when thinking about Gaza’s youth, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a racist.” Large demonstrations were also reported in Granada.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Madrid, Dana Erlich, to say that Spanish citizens who participated in the flotilla “do not constitute any threat” and were acting within their basic rights, the ministry said, adding they have the ministry’s “full support.”
Protests and official reactions were reported elsewhere as well: demonstrations and an investigation into arrests in Turkey; Colombia’s president said his government would expel Israeli diplomats; and broad media support for the Sumud flotilla appeared across the Arab world, including publication of supportive cartoons.
After the Navy’s takeover, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the “provocation by Hamas-Sumud has ended. None of the yachts of provocation succeeded in entering an active combat area or breaking the lawful maritime blockade.”