Jerusalem said on Wednesday morning that naval forces intercepted the latest protest flotilla headed for the Gaza Strip, which reportedly included nine vessels carrying anti-Israel activists.
“Another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing. The vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port. All the passengers are safe and in good health. The passengers are expected to be deported promptly,” the Foreign Ministry stated on X.
Another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing. The vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port. All the passengers are safe and in good health. The passengers are expected to be deported promptly.
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 8, 2025
The Hamas- and Muslim Brotherhood-linked “Global Sumud Flotilla,” which has been organizing the stunts, said that the Israeli Navy intercepted at least three of its boats on Wednesday.
“Three vessels—Gaza Sunbirds, Alaa Al-Najjar and Anas Al-Sharif— have been attacked and illegally intercepted by the Israeli military,” the organizers said on X, also claiming that another ship carrying more than 90 anti-Israel activists was “under attack.”
The early morning interceptions took place around 140 miles off the coast of Gaza, according to organizers.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said the boats were carrying “vital aid worth over $110,000 USD in medicines, respiratory equipment and nutritional supplies that were destined for Gaza’s starving hospitals.”
Last week’s flotilla carried a minuscule amount of humanitarian aid, Israeli authorities demonstrated.
“These individuals, who arrived under the guise of ‘humanitarian aid,’ made it clear—through their actions, their rejection of all proposals by Israel, Italy and Greece to peacefully transfer the aid, and the small quantity of aid they actually carried on their boats—that their true goal was provocation in the service of Hamas, not humanitarian assistance,” the ministry said at the time.
Last week, Israeli authorities arrested and later deported hundreds of anti-Israel activists after intercepting a Gaza-bound flotilla, including Swedish anti-Israel activist Greta Thunberg. As of Tuesday, Jerusalem said it has deported 341 of the 479 people who were on board the 42 boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla. The 138 other activists remain in detention in Israel, including a Spanish woman who bit and lightly injured a female prison medic.
U.S. President Donald Trump slammed Thunberg on Monday, calling her a “troublemaker.”
“You mean she’s no longer into the environment and now she’s doing this? She’s a troublemaker, she has anger management problems, and she should see a doctor,” Trump said. “She’s so angry, she’s so crazy, you can have her.”
