By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and 10 other countries issued a joint statement on Thursday sharply condemning Israel’s military interception of a civilian aid flotilla headed for Gaza, describing the operation in international waters as a “flagrant violation” of international and humanitarian law and demanding the immediate release of the detained activists.
The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkey, Brazil, Jordan, Spain, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Colombia, the Maldives, South Africa and Libya said the assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla — a multinational effort organized to spotlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza — and the subsequent detention of participants represented an unacceptable use of force against a peaceful humanitarian mission.
“The ministers are deeply concerned about the safety of the civilian activists and urge the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure their immediate release,” the statement said. “The ministers also call on the international community to fulfil their moral and legal obligations to uphold international law, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for these violations.”
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, echoed the criticism in a post on X, the social media platform. The condemnation came one day after organisers of the flotilla reported that Israeli forces had boarded and seized control of at least 22 of its vessels in international waters off the Greek island of Crete, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Gaza coast. The operation, which flotilla organisers described as unprecedented in distance from the Palestinian territory, took place in the Greek exclusive economic zone, according to tracking data verified by Agence France-Presse.
Helene Coron, a spokeswoman for the French contingent of the Global Sumud Flotilla, told an online news conference that Israeli forces had “kidnapped” 211 activists, including Paris city councillor Raphaëlle Primet and 10 other French nationals. Organisers said the group included participants from all 48 national delegations aboard the mixed-nationality flotilla. Israel’s Foreign Ministry put the number of those detained at 175.
Yasmine Scola, an activist aboard one of the vessels, said her colleagues had been “kidnapped” by Israel. A former Pakistani senator from the Jamaat-i-Islami party, Mushtaq Ahmad, was also part of the mission, though it was not immediately clear whether he was among those taken into custody. In a video message posted overnight on X, Ahmad said Israeli forces had captured 11 boats using drones and naval vessels. “Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel,’ pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons, ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement. “Boat communications are being jammed, and an SOS was issued.”
The flotilla, composed of more than 50 boats that had set sail in recent weeks from Marseille, France; Barcelona, Spain; and Syracuse, Italy, was attempting to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza. At the time the organisers issued their statement early Thursday, 6:30 a.m. Paris time, communications had been lost with 11 vessels, they said. Around 30 boats remained en route, most now in Greek territorial waters south of Crete.
A Greek coast guard source told Agence France-Presse that authorities had responded to a distress signal from the flotilla but were informed upon arrival that no assistance was required.
Italy’s government issued a statement calling for the immediate release of “all the unlawfully detained Italians.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the operation in a post on X, saying he had instructed the navy to prevent what he called a “Hamas-supporting flotilla” from reaching Gaza. “The mission was executed with complete success,” he wrote. “No ship and no Hamas supporter reached our territory, and not even our territorial waters. They were turned back and will return to their countries of origin. They will continue to see Gaza on YouTube.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the detained activists would be transferred to Greece. “In coordination with the Greek government, the individuals transferred from the flotilla vessels to the Israeli vessel will be disembarked on a Greek beach in the coming hours,” he wrote on X, thanking Athens for its cooperation.
The incident marked the latest confrontation involving activist flotillas seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, which Israel has maintained since the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing war. Israel controls all entry points to the territory and has faced repeated accusations from the United Nations and international aid organisations of severely restricting the flow of humanitarian goods, contributing to widespread shortages.
Ahmad, who led the Pakistani delegation on a previous 45-vessel Global Sumud Flotilla last year, was intercepted by Israeli forces as that convoy approached Gaza. He was detained in Israel for five days before being deported to Jordan.
The broader humanitarian conditions in Gaza provided the stated context for the flotilla’s mission. In a recent report, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) described Israeli authorities’ use of access to water as “a weapon against Palestinians,” accusing them of systematically depriving civilians in Gaza of adequate water as part of a campaign of collective punishment.
The organisation, one of the largest providers of drinking water in Gaza after local authorities, said that between May and November 2025, one in every five of its water distributions was disrupted because trucks could not carry sufficient supplies.
MSF said about one-third of its requests to import critical water and sanitation equipment — including desalination units, pumps, chlorine, water tanks and latrines — had been rejected or left unanswered. The group warned that the consequences for public health, hygiene and human dignity in Gaza could be far-reaching.
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