Afrasianet - Israel's arm of repression has once again extended to strike the "Steadfastness Flotilla" near the Greek island of Crete, more than 800 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, which was the supposed target of the campaign.
The number of detained activists and the detained vessels ranged from 211 activists to 21 ships, according to official figures, and 400 activists (from 40 countries) were arrested and 41 ships were detained.1,000 activists participated in the flotilla, which set off from Barcelona on April 12 as part of the Spring 2026 mission, carrying food, medical and educational aid to Gazans, a mission Humanitarian and peaceful, Israel used naval commandos (Shibt 13) in a simultaneous attack that included helicopter and speedboat landings.
The attack revealed the deliberate planning by jamming communication signals to cut off the fleet from the outside world, and the targeting of 6 major ships, namely Cirrus, Alma, Spectra, Hoga, Adra and Deir Yassin, showed coordination that reflects a systematic strategy to suppress the humanitarian initiative.
The attack is considered a form of piracy and a violation of Article 101 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defines piracy as any act of violence or detention committed on the high seas outside the jurisdiction of any State, and an attack on a civilian humanitarian mission in the United States.
International waters are a war crime according to Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which criminalizes deliberately directing attacks against personnel on a humanitarian mission.
The latest attack repeats previous crimes committed against similar initiatives, such as with the Freedom Flotilla in May 2010, in which Israel assassinated 10 Turkish activists, and what happened with the Steadfastness Flotilla in October 2025, during which Israel arrested 450 activists, in an affirmation of Israel's policy of violating international law, and the feeling of its military and political leaders with full immunity from the consequences of their violations.
While demonstrating clear contempt for the sovereignty, immunities and laws of the world and other States, and of their citizens participating or not participating in the initiative. After the Israeli commandos cut off communications between ships and the world, civilian activists who remained stranded on ships parked at sea issued a distress call to the world. In an attempt to "hold the stick in the middle", he called on Israel to "respect international law", but declared that he does not encourage the use of flotillas as a means of delivering humanitarian aid, claiming that he "does not want to endanger the lives of the participants".
However, with this European graduation, some respectable voices become very important, led by Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, who considered that Israel's aggression against the blockade flotilla from Gaza off the coast of Gaza Greece:
"There should be a shock in Europe", and wondered: "How can it be that Israel is allowed to attack and seize ships in international waters off the coast of Greece/Europe", considering that what Israel is practicing is "apartheid without borders", for his part, the former Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufaks, accused his country's government of "collusion" in dealing with the Israeli attack, and said in a post on the "X" platform, on Thursday, that he had communicated with the participants in the flotilla, and said that the Greek government "is either complicit or unable to protect our seas from Israel."
