The Israeli navy has told a flotilla carrying aid towards Gaza to change course, as activists say the boats have been intercepted.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) wrote on social media that some of its vessels had been boarded by “military personnel” after being approached by Israeli ships and that it was working to confirm the status of those aboard.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the navy had told the flotilla to change course as it was “approaching an active combat zone”. Israel has not yet confirmed it has boarded any vessels.
Israel has previously said it would not let the flotilla reach its destination. An earlier attempt saw activists detained by Israeli forces and taken to shore.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the flotilla had been informed it was “violating a lawful naval blockade” that covers the waters next to Gaza – though it is unclear if the boats had entered the blockade zone.
The GSF said multiple ships including the Alma, one of the main vessels, as well as the Surius and the Adara, had been intercepted and boarded.
Prior to that, it accused the Israeli military of “intentionally damaging ship communications, in an attempt to block distress signals and stop the livestream of their illegal boat boarding”.
Several webcams are still livestreaming and show activists aboard the ships.
It added that the flotilla was 70 nautical miles from Gaza’s shoreline.
The GSF said it hoped its vessels would arrive on Thursday morning.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also said the GSF flotilla was being intercepted.
He said in a statement that France had ensured “that any possible boarding operation would take place under the best possible security conditions”.
Italy’s foreign minister said he had been reassured by Israel that its armed forces would not use violence against the 500 people aboard, including Italian politicians and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Antonio Tajani said: “The boarding was planned, we are talking about it… with [Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon] Saar so that there would be no violent actions on the part of the Tel Aviv armed forces, and this has been assured to me.”
Israel has already blocked two attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July.
Earlier, Italy and Greece called on Israel to ensure the safety and security of the activists and said they were closely monitoring developments.
