More than 100 pro-Palestinian activists aboard boats carrying aid bound for Gaza were taken to the Greek island of Crete on Friday after Israeli forces seized their vessels in international waters near Greece, flotilla organisers said.
The activists were part of a second Global Sumud flotilla, launched in recent months in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships set sail from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12.
On Friday, an Israeli army ship transferred 168 members of the flotilla crew to Greek boats, which then took them to shore where buses and an ambulance waited for them, organisers said and Reuters footage showed.
Israel’s foreign ministry called the flotilla organisers “professional provocateurs” and said: “Israel will not allow the breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza.”