Organizers of the Turkish-led attempt to break the Gaza maritime blockade said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had intercepted 41 of their boats, with 10 vessels still sailing toward the Strip.
The group said the ship closest to Gaza was sailing 121 nautical miles (139 miles) from the enclave, inside the interception zone enforced by the Israel Defense Forces.
Shortly before the first vessels were intercepted by the IDF on Monday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry 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.
“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 is organized by the same Turkish group that was behind the 2010 MV Mavi Marmara flotilla. It is believed to be composed of more than 50 vessels, carrying 500 activists from 45 nations.
In May 2010, the MV Mavi Marmara participated in a Gaza protest flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (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 Israel 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.
