Israel attacks the Freedom Flotilla

On Wednesday morning, the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza announced that Israeli occupation forces had intercepted the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ as it sailed in international waters towards the Gaza Strip, in an attack it described as ‘a new war crime’.

The committee said in a statement:

The Israeli occupation is once again committing a war crime in international waters. We will not stop… The genocide must be stopped and the blockade broken.

In a separate post on the X platform, the committee clarified that the attack took place 120 nautical miles (about 220 km) off the coast of Gaza, confirming that the operation took place in international waters, far from the Israeli border.

🚨Interception of the FFC x TMTG flotilla has started 🚨

The Israeli military has no legal jurisdiction over international waters. Our flotilla poses no harm. We carry vital aid worth over $110,000 USD in medicines, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies that were… pic.twitter.com/H61WsbZc3b

— ICBSG | اللجنة الدولية لكسر الحصار عن غزة (@ICBSOFGAZA) October 8, 2025

Freedom Flotilla

The Freedom Flotilla consists of 11 ships that set sail from the Italian coast a few days ago, carrying civilian activists and humanitarian aid for the residents of the besieged Gaza Strip, where approximately 2.4 million Palestinians live in deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Since 2 March, Israel has continued to close the crossings into Gaza, preventing humanitarian aid from entering, which has exacerbated the food crisis and caused famine, despite the accumulation of relief trucks at the crossings. The Israeli authorities sometimes allow limited quantities to enter, which are insufficient to alleviate the suffering, while some shipments are looted by armed groups, which the Gaza government says Israel protects.

In a subsequent update, the International Committee confirmed in a tweet on ‘X’ that three ships, the ‘Gaza Sunbirds’, ‘Alaa Al-Najjar’ and ‘Anas Al-Sharif’, were attacked and illegally intercepted by the Israeli army at 4:34 a.m. at the same location off the Palestinian coast.

Moment of attack

The committee posted a video documenting the moment of the attack on the Sunbirds boat, showing soldiers attempting to destroy the camera in order to conceal what it described as a ‘crime.’ The committee also reported that the ship Al-Dameer, which was carrying 93 journalists, doctors and activists, was attacked by an Israeli military helicopter.

The Freedom Flotilla accounts on the X platform broadcast footage documenting what it said was:

an attack by the occupation forces on the Al-Dameer ship before dawn, in international waters, near Palestinian territorial waters.

The committee confirmed that this attack represents ‘a new act of state piracy carried out by the Israeli occupation, in clear violation of international law.’

A few days ago, Israel attacked the ‘Steadfastness Fleet’ as it was also heading to Gaza, in a similar operation carried out by its forces at sea, reflecting a repeated escalation against peaceful civilian movements aimed at breaking the siege imposed on the Strip for more than 17 years.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Associated Press