Israeli naval commandos intercepted all 51 ships participating in the Turkish-led Gaza flotilla, concluding an operation in the Mediterranean that lasted more than 24 hours, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said late on Tuesday.
A total of 430 activists were making their way to the Jewish state aboard an Israeli Navy vessel, “where they will be able to meet with their consular representatives,” the ministry tweeted.
“Another PR flotilla has come to an end,” the post stated. “This flotilla has once again proved to be nothing more than a PR stunt at the service of Hamas.”
“Israel will continue to act in full accordance with international law and will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” the MFA added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu monitored the operation from the Israel Defense Forces’ military headquarters in Tel Aviv as it got underway in international waters off Cyprus on Monday morning.
The premier “watched our forces take control of the terrorism-supporting flotilla boats that had left Turkey and which intended to break the naval blockade on the Gaza coast,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
“I think you are doing an outstanding job, both with the first flotilla and with this one, and effectively neutralizing a malicious plan designed to break the isolation we have imposed on Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” Netanyahu told the naval commandos over the radio.
“You are doing this with great success, and I must say also quietly, and certainly with less prominence than our enemies expected—so, heartfelt congratulations,” he added. “Keep going until the end.”
Shortly before the first vessels were intercepted by the IDF on Monday, the Foreign Ministry had called on “all participants in this provocation to change course and turn back immediately.”
“Once again, a provocation for the sake of provocation: another so-called ‘humanitarian aid flotilla’ with no humanitarian aid,” the Foreign Ministry tweeted. “This time, two violent Turkish groups—Mavi Marmara and IHH, the latter designated as a terrorist organization—are part of the provocation.” IHH stands for the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief.
“The purpose of this provocation is to serve Hamas, to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm, and to obstruct progress on President Trump’s peace plan,” it continued.
The ministry noted that U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803, previously said the flotillas were “only about publicity.”
More than 1.58 million tons of humanitarian aid and thousands of tons of medical supplies have entered Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10, 2025, the Foreign Ministry added.
The latest attempt to breach the Gaza maritime blockade was organized by the same Turkish groups that were behind the 2010 MV Mavi Marmara flotilla.
In May 2010, the MV Mavi Marmara participated in a Gaza protest flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the İHH. Nine activists were killed when they attacked Israeli Navy commandos who boarded the vessel. Ten IDF servicemen were wounded, one seriously.
The incident sparked a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey. Though relations began to improve in 2022, they again deteriorated after the Jewish state retaliated for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.
Jerusalem maintains that its naval blockade on Gaza, imposed on Jan. 3, 2009, is compatible with international law. It aims to prevent weapons, terrorists and money from entering or exiting the Gaza Strip by sea. The enclave has been ruled by Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists since 2007.
