IDF takes over pro-Palestinian activist boat attempting to break Gaza blockade

Israeli forces took over a boat that was attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, and began towing it toward the Ashdod Port.

The boat, Handala, had been carrying pro-Palestinian activists and small amounts of humanitarian aid supplies. It set sail from Sicily earlier this month, weeks after Israel intercepted a different vessel that made a high-profile attempt to break the blockade.

Handala is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which also dispatched the previous boat, the Madleen, on a mission to challenge Israel’s blockade on the Strip. According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s website, the Handala was carrying 19 activists as well as two Al Jazeera journalists. The organization did not disclose the contents or quantity of the humanitarian aid aboard the ship.

The activists’ own live broadcast from the vessel showed them sitting on deck, holding their hands up and whistling the Italian anti-fascist song “Bella Ciao,” as Israeli Navy soldiers took control of the boat.

Three video live feeds of the scene, which had been broadcast online, were cut minutes later.

An online tracking tool set up to plot the Handala’s course showed the boat’s position as roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Egyptian coast and 100 kilometers west of Gaza when intercepted.

התיעוד המלא והדרמטי: השתלטות שייטת 13 על הספינה חנד’לה שניסתה לפרוץ את המצור על עזה. מעליית הלוחמים על הספינה ממספר כלי שייט ועד ניתוק מצלמות האבטחה. בזמן הזה הפעילים יושבים בכיסאות עם אפודי הצלה ושרים pic.twitter.com/onKZibxxpa

— איתי בלומנטל ???????? Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) July 26, 2025

The boat was being towed toward Ashdod Port by the Navy, and the activists were then set to be deported from the country.

While the IDF did not issue an official comment on the incident, the Foreign Ministry confirmed the takeover, stressing that everyone on board was safe.

In a statement, using the original name of the vessel, the ministry said the forces “stopped the vessel Navarn from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza.”

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

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition earlier said it was altering course, heading south toward Egypt, due to the Israeli Navy vessels and a drone approaching the boat at sea.

“At this time, the Handala does not intend to enter Egyptian waters but plans to sail parallel to the coastline. Should the threat from Israeli authorities escalate, the crew will attempt to contact the Egyptian Coast Guard to request emergency entry based on the threat to their lives,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.

After the interception, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition declared in a message on social media: “‘Handala’ has been intercepted and boarded illegally by Israeli forces whilst in international waters.”

Two far-left French lawmakers, Emma Fourreau and Gabrielle Cathala, were among those detained. Their party leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon of France Unbowed (LFI), condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Netanyahu’s thugs boarded Handala. They attack 21 unarmed people in territorial waters where they have no right. A kidnapping in which two French parliamentarians are victims,” he posted on X, demanding the French government take action.

According to several activists aboard the Handala, the group had decided that it would begin a hunger strike immediately upon interception by the IDF.

“If the Israeli military attacks our vessel and prevents us from getting to Gaza, we will go on hunger strike immediately,” Huwaida Arraf said in a social media post on Friday.

“We are not interested in receiving any food or water [from Israel…] and certainly not in the ways that they use it for propaganda, while at the same time they are starving to death Palestinian children,” she added.

Every member aboard the Handala Freedom Flotilla has pledged to go on hunger strike if Israel intercepts the ship. pic.twitter.com/gLutOKd06E

— Handala (@handala0) July 26, 2025

The IDF, in response to an earlier query about the ship, said it was “enforcing the maritime security blockade on the Gaza Strip and is prepared for a range of scenarios, which it will implement in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”

The previous ship launched by the Flotilla group, the Madleen, was intercepted by Israeli authorities on June 9, about 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) west of Gaza’s coast, after it defied repeated warnings by Israel to turn around.

Israel towed the boat to Ashdod Port and detained the 12 activists on board — including climate activist Greta Thunberg — before deporting them over the following days. Jerusalem, which described the venture as a publicity stunt, said the small amount of aid on that boat was then transferred to Gaza using approved overland channels.

Activists on the Madleen Gaza-bound aid boat are being given sandwiches after the vessel was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters. (Screenshot/Israeli Foreign Ministry via AFP)

Several other attempts have been made over the years to approach Gaza by sea, not all of which fared as well as the Madleen.

In May, a vessel dispatched by the Freedom Flotilla was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship. Israel did not comment on the incident.

Past attempts to break the blockade have also failed, most notably the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010, which saw Israeli commandos board a Turkish-led flotilla bound for Gaza. The violence that ensued when those aboard the ship attacked the soldiers resulted in the deaths of 10 activists and left a soldier badly wounded, sparking international condemnation and a severe diplomatic rift between Israel and Turkey.

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007 in a violent coup. Israel says it is necessary to limit Hamas’s ability to smuggle in arms with which to attack the Jewish state. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Piles of humanitarian aid packages wait to be picked up on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 24, 2025, during a media tour organized by the Israeli army. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, file)

Nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

In recent weeks, as the humanitarian situation has deteriorated severely, the ministry says at least 56 people have died of causes related to malnutrition in Gaza, including 35 adults and 22 children. That’s up from 10 children who died from such causes during all five previous months of 2025, according to the ministry.

Israeli authorities have maintained that while the humanitarian situation in Gaza is difficult, there is no widespread famine. On Saturday, they announced new airdrops of aid and “humanitarian pauses” starting Sunday, aimed at facilitating the safe delivery of goods by the United Nations.

Agencies contributed to this report.