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Israeli forces opened fire on at least two aid ships headed for Gaza on Tuesday, according to a video by the flotilla’s organizers, but Israel said no bullets were fired and there were no casualties.
Video from the flotilla’s live channel showed soldiers firing on two boats. The type of bullets fired was unclear.
“No shots were fired,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Following many warnings, non-lethal methods were used on the ship – not on the protesters – as a warning. No protesters were injured during this event,” it added, referring only to the action of one ship.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said on its website that 48 ships have been seized, around 400 people have been arrested and two boats are still sailing in the eastern Mediterranean.
Israeli forces have begun boarding ships from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla in waters off Cyprus, organizers said. The Global Sumud Flotilla, the international organization leading the campaign, says its ships were ‘violently seized’ and its volunteers ‘kidnapped’ by Israel. The attack on the ships comes as US President Donald Trump continues to threaten Iran to ratify a peace deal that ends their war.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on X Monday that it “will not allow any violation of the official blockade of naval vessels in Gaza.”
Speaking in Ankara late Monday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned the intervention of “riders of hope” in the flotilla and called on the international community to take action against Israel’s actions.
Ships from the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail for the third time on Thursday from southern Turkey, after previous attempts to deliver aid to Gaza were intercepted by Israel in international waters.
Earlier, the group said there were 426 people participating in the flotilla from 39 countries.
US imposes sanctions on 4 activists
Israel’s Foreign Ministry urged “all those involved in this provocation to change course and turn back immediately.”
The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on European activists Saif Abu Keshek, Jaldia Abubakra Aueda, Hisham Abdallah Sulayman Abu Mahfuz and Mohammed Khatib, who were in the flotilla, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called “pro-terror.”
Pro-Palestinian activists say Israel and the US are wrongly conflating their advocacy of Palestinian rights with support for Hamas extremists.
Palestinians and international aid agencies say aid to Gaza is still insufficient, despite an October ceasefire that included assurances of increased aid.
Most of Gaza’s more than two million people were left homeless, many now living in bombed-out houses and makeshift tents pitched in the open, along roadsides or on the ruins of demolished buildings.
Israel, which controls all access to the Gaza Strip, denies that it is withholding supplies from its residents.
11 Canadians arrested by Israeli authorities
The flotilla said on Tuesday that hundreds of detained activists from more than 40 nations were being “forcibly transported” by an Israeli ship to an undisclosed port.
More than a dozen Irish people were on board the flotilla, including the Irish President’s sister Catherine Connolly. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin called Israel’s intervention in international waters “absolutely unacceptable.”
At least 11 of the 12 Canadians on the boats bound for Gaza have been arrested by Israeli authorities, Global Sumud Canada told CBC News on Tuesday.
Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman Thida Ith said the agency is aware of the Canadians involved in the flotilla and that Israeli security forces “continue to thwart attempts to breach the naval blockade.”
“Consular officials continue to closely monitor the situation. They are in contact with local authorities and are prepared to provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens who request it,” Ith said in a statement sent to CBC News.
The flotilla said it wanted the “immediate, unconditional release of all our stakeholders, as well as the more than 9,000 illegally detained Palestinian political prisoners” and urged world leaders to press for the same.
The activist group also warned of “grave and immediate concern” about the physical safety of the arrested activists following testimony from some of those arrested during the April 30 blockade.
Those activists detailed “patterns of torture, physical abuse and invasive sexual violence” by Israeli soldiers, allegations Israel denies.
