Israeli forces seize Freedom Flotilla's Handala ship, detain 21 crew

Defence affairs

Israel’s military has seized the Freedom Flotilla’s Handala ship and detained its 21 crew members, as they attempted to break the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.

International activists aboard the aid ship that set sail from Italy en route to Gaza said in a post on X that the vessel had been intercepted.

The Israeli foreign ministry said on X that naval forces "stopped the vessel from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza," that it was being taken to Israeli shores and all passengers were safe.

In a video broadcast live by the crew of the ship, Israeli soldiers were seen forcefully boarding the vessel, after which the live transmission was cut off.

A short time before the Israeli forces took control of the ship, one of the women onboard, Emma Fourreau, who is French-Swedish member of the European Parliament, wrote in X (formerly Twitter) that the Israeli military had arrived.

According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the ship was forcibly stopped by the Israeli military in international waters, approximately 40 nautical miles from Gaza. The Israeli forces turned off the cameras installed on the ship, after which all communication with Handala was lost.