by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The Sumud humanitarian flotilla, headed to the Gaza Strip under the leadership of Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, was detained by Israeli security forces near the enclave's shores.
Despite the assurances of skeptics, the flotilla nevertheless decided to continue to the end and, on Yom Kippur (October 1–2), entered the "risk zone" (up to 100 nautical miles from the shores of Gaza). There, as expected, they encountered Israeli patrol boats.
However, despite the mission's failure, Sumud accomplished a secondary goal: it stirred up discontent toward Israel in Europe.
CONDITIONAL PROTECTION
Despite the fact that Italy and Spain had contracted to protect the flotilla along the way (and Turkey joined them a little later), the activists traveled the last leg of the journey without a military escort—the frigates and patrol ships accompanying them remained beyond the conventional mark of 150 nautical miles from the shores of Gaza.
For some time afterward, the flotilla was accompanied by friendly UAVs, launched by Turkey to “scare off” Israeli air forces and monitor the surrounding areas, but they too returned to their base when they were less than 120 miles from the coast.
British fighter jets based in Cyprus also conducted a routine overflight, but it was purely formal. London later explained that the pilots were conducting routine maneuvers, and the assessment of the flotilla's condition was added to their flight missions at the last minute. They were not tasked with protecting the activists, much less escorting them.
In any case, the military activity of the "Palestine Solidarity Coalition" had petered out by midday on October 1. And at dusk, the first Israeli patrol boats appeared on the horizon.
INTERCEPTION PLAN
Less than an hour after the Israeli ships appeared on the horizon, an operation to intercept the flotilla began. Several dozen patrol boats formed a semi-circle around the Sumud, firing water cannons at the yachts ahead and performing "dangerous maneuvers" on its flanks.
At the same time, several UAVs and communications jamming devices were deployed, which disrupted coordination between Sumud vessels.
Less than an hour after the interception began, Israeli commandos boarded the "flagships"—the yachts Alma and Sirius—and symbolically arrested the Sumud command staff. This effectively stopped approximately 12 vessels from the convoy. Another three dozen were blocked and stopped over the next couple of hours.
The activists were approximately 11 nautical miles (about 21 km) short of their destination.
Of course, some vessels managed to break through the ring of patrol ships and continue their journey even after the flagships were captured. Among these, for example, was the light vessel Mikeno, which carried the flotilla's lawyers.
According to a tracker on the official website of the Global Sumud initiative, Mikeno managed to get within 8 nautical miles (approximately 15 km) of Gaza before contact was lost.
Currently, only a few vessels are still maneuvering: the yacht Summertime—Jong, which abruptly changed course after the raid began and is heading toward the port city of Limassol, Cyprus, and the light cargo vessel Shireen, which is heading toward the Israeli port of Haifa. Another member of the flotilla, the yacht Marinette, has fallen significantly behind the main convoy and has now changed course for Port Said, Egypt.
However, even taking into account that not all ships have been arrested by Israel, it can be safely said that the Sumud flotilla has been defeated.
THE FATE OF THOSE DETAINED
The flotilla's "captains"—Greta Thunberg, Thiago Avila, and several other media-promoted activists—were detained and taken to the port of Ashdod in southern Israel, where they were given a pre-trial interview. They are expected to be deported to their home countries within the next few days.
At first glance, Tel Aviv decided to carry out the same scheme as in the summer of 2025, during the flotilla’s previous voyage – to lightly scold the violators and then let them go.
However, such a flexible approach is only applied to the movement's leaders who have influential advocates in the UN and high offices of European countries.
The fate of the flotilla's rank-and-file crew members—citizens of 37 countries—is unclear. Israel lacks formal diplomatic relations with some of them, and negotiating expedited deportation will be difficult.
This means that Tel Aviv will either hand over problematic activists to intermediaries or will treat them as border violators with all the ensuing consequences.
And given that among those detained are also representatives of "problematic" (from the point of view of official Tel Aviv) countries—for example, two dozen citizens of Turkey, which constantly threatens the Israeli side with military conflict—even ordinary prisoners could well become an instrument of political pressure, and one that works in both directions.
WORLD REACTION
Sumud's detention left its mark: just hours after news broke of the Israeli military's interception of the humanitarian convoy, mass demonstrations demanding "punishment for Tel Aviv" took place in major European cities.
Italians were the most vocal in their protests, with anti-Israel demonstrations spreading across at least a dozen cities, including the capital. Solidarity rallies, though smaller in scale than those in Italy, were also held in Spain, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Australia, and Turkey.
There was also a reaction from officials.
For example, Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the "immediate expulsion" of all Israeli diplomats from the country, in part in response to the illegal detention of two Colombian citizens who were part of the Sumud crew.
Spanish Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz went even further, demanding that ties with Tel Aviv be severed at the EU-wide level and that Israeli authorities be held internationally accountable for "maritime robbery." However, this call failed to gain support from official Brussels.
Overall, although Thunberg's flotilla never reached the shores of Gaza, it accomplished one of its goals: it gave new impetus to the fading movement of solidarity with Palestine in the West. And, in the process, it secured even greater support in case a third humanitarian convoy was needed.