Abdel Raouf Arnaout
18 May 2026•Update: 18 May 2026
The Israeli navy is preparing within hours to intercept and seize boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is seeking to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, according to Israeli media reports.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv, citing an unnamed source, reported Monday that the navy is preparing to stop the flotilla’s boats, which departed from Türkiye and are heading toward Gaza.
The source said the navy would intercept the boats in international waters before they reach Palestinian territorial waters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a security meeting later Monday to approve the seizure of the flotilla, according to Israeli public broadcaster KAN.
Netanyahu has been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, where more than 72,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s war and genocide since October 2023.
Early Monday, the flotilla said it detected “suspicious” movements by unidentified ships and boats near its vessels shortly after announcing that it had entered international waters.
The flotilla, made up of 54 boats, sailed Thursday from the Turkish Mediterranean city of Marmaris in a renewed attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since the summer of 2007.
*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul
