JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Israel renewed its threat on Thursday to block a Gaza-bound aid flotilla from reaching the enclave, claiming the territory lies within a “combat operations zone.”

The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid and activists from multiple countries, has been sailing toward Gaza for days in a bid to challenge Israel’s 19-year blockade.

“Tel Aviv will not allow ships to enter a combat zone,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned on the US social media company X.

He repeated Israel’s claims that it enforces a “legal naval blockade” -- an allegation disputed by rights groups such as Amnesty International, which called the blockade collective punishment and a violation of international law.

Saar claimed that Israel had accepted an Italian proposal to unload the flotilla’s cargo in the Greek Cypriot Administration before transferring it to Gaza, alleging that the organizers refused and proved their “real aim is provocation and serving Hamas.”

Early on Thursday, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto urged the flotilla organizers to accept Rome’s plan to deliver aid via the Greek Cypriot Administration and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, though the flotilla has not publicly responded.

The activists maintain their effort is both humanitarian and symbolic, describing arrival in Gaza as a direct challenge to Israel’s naval siege.

The flotilla includes dozens of ships and hundreds of international participants, among them Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Since March 2, Israel has fully closed Gaza’s crossings, blocking food and aid convoys and deepening famine conditions in the enclave. Only limited supplies are sporadically allowed in, and many are looted by armed groups that Gaza authorities accuse Israel of protecting.

On Wednesday, flotilla organizers said nine of their ships experienced 12 explosions caused by drones, without naming the party behind. Israel, which has repeatedly threatened to stop the flotilla, has remained silent.

Israel has previously intercepted Gaza-bound ships, seizing and deporting activists, including vessels named al-Dhamir, Madleen and Handala earlier this year. But this is the first time in years that dozens of ships are sailing together in a coordinated attempt to break the blockade of Gaza, home to 2.4 million Palestinians.

The Israeli army has killed more than 65,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.