Israel intercepts aid ship Handala, en route from Italy to Gaza

GAZA: The aid boat, Hanzala, which departed from Italy, was intercepted at sea by the Israeli military, Arab media reported.

The boat was intercepted 115 kilometers from Gaza, and six Israeli soldiers forcefully boarded the boat, carrying 19 human rights activists, including a member of the European Parliament from France, and two journalists.

The Israeli military has detained all 21 people on board the aid boat, Arab media reported.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that Handala was intercepted within 70 nautical miles of its intended destination on Saturday night. “The occupation has disabled our cameras and all communication has been lost,” a spokesperson for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) told CNN in a message.

A YouTube livestream showed armed personnel boarding the ship, while the activists on the deck, all wearing life jackets, held their hands in the air in surrender. One of the helmeted personnel appears to manipulate the camera streaming on the deck, turning it around. The stream ended soon after that.

Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed in a statement on X that the “Israeli navy has stopped the vessel Navarn from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza,” using the Handala’s original name.

“The vessel is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. All passengers are safe,” the statement saoid, adding, “Unauthorized attempts to breach the blockade are dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts.”

The Handala is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which has attempted numerous times to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza via sea and deliver aid to Palestinians there.

Two members of the French and European parliaments are aboard, according to FFC, as well as Christian Small, a US trade unionist.

“The unarmed boat was carrying life-saving supplies when it was boarded by Israeli forces, its passengers abducted, and its cargo seized,” the FFC said in a statement, adding that the supplies included “baby formula, diapers, food, and medicine.”

A few hours before the ship was intercepted, the FFC released a statement saying that the Handala was steering towards Egypt in an effort to avoid being boarded.

The end of Handala’s journey towards Gaza comes a little over a month after another ship from the Freedom Flotilla, the Madleen, was similarly intercepted on its way to the enclave.

That ship, crewed by a group that included climate activist Greta Thunberg, was also laden with aid. Israeli authorities towed their ship to Ashdod, and all aboard were deported from Israel afterwards.

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