Two Canadians are among the activists detained by Israel after the boats they were sailing on were intercepted overnight during a mission to break the nearly 20-year naval blockade of Gaza, Canadian flotilla organizers said Thursday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla identified the Canadians as Marie Tota and Umir Tiar.
Tota is a nurse from Ontario and Tiar is a student from Quebec City, said Global Sumud Canada spokesperson Safa Chebbi, who spoke to The Canadian Press from a flotilla boat currently sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.
More than 180 activists were detained in international waters as Israeli forces intercepted 22 boats in the flotilla, Chebbi said.
Organizer Ehab Lotayef, who is part of the Freedom Flotilla that is involved in the same mission, said the boats were intercepted west of the Greek island of Crete, more than 500 nautical miles away from Israel and Gaza, and that organizers have not yet been able to contact those detained.
Lotayef spoke to The Canadian Press from Sicily after the interception disrupted plans for him and five other Canadians to join the fleet of ships that launched from Barcelona earlier this month.
He said it’s alarming that Israel intercepted the boats so far from its own shores, a move he said amounts to an illegal abduction particularly since flotilla activists are unarmed civilians trying to deliver aid and draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said all detained participants were unharmed and would be taken to Greece “in the coming hours.”
“We thank the Greek government for its willingness to receive the flotilla participants,” he wrote on social media.
Jammed communications
A press release from Global Sumud Canada said Israeli forces jammed communications, destroyed several ships and left activists adrift at sea on boats without power during the interception.
A Canadian woman was among those marooned on a vandalized boat but was later rescued by Greenpeace and Spanish NGO Open Arms, Chebbi said. The flotilla spokesperson and one other Canadian are still sailing.
Chebbi’s boat wasn’t near the group that was intercepted but she said internet connection was disrupted on her vessel before drones shining bright spotlights surrounded them.
At the time, she believed the drones may have been sent by Greek authorities or another ship in the area and was shocked to learn later that Israeli forces had sailed so far west to intercept the flotilla.
She didn’t see the military action firsthand but said fellow activists told her armed Israeli soldiers boarded vessels before detaining activists.
Lotayef is calling on the Canadian government to “have a spine” and take action to ensure the detained Canadians are returned home safely.
Demanding consular intervention
Meanwhile, Global Sumud Canada is demanding immediate consular intervention for Tota and Tiar, and urging the federal government to call for an end of the blockade and support the safe passage of the flotilla to Gaza.
Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
A video posted by the Global Sumud Flotilla shows one of the detained Canadians identifying herself as a medic.
“If you’re watching this, Israeli occupation forces have kidnapped me from international waters,” Tota said in the pre-recorded video, holding up her Canadian passport.
“My kidnapping shows once again how far the Israeli regime and its backers will go to continue their siege and genocide.”
Chebbi says flotilla organizers are in contact with Tota and Tiar’s families and the hope is that they arrive in Greece safely.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on social media that it was taking about 175 activists from more than 20 boats participating in the flotilla.
The ministry said it took “early action” to intercept the flotilla due to the large number of vessels and the need to prevent the breach of its blockade, claiming that Hamas is behind the flotilla.
Lotayef, a longtime activist who was himself detained by Israel during a 2011 flotilla, said he’s never heard of Israeli forces sailing so far west to intercept boats.
“The usual zone, I would say, [is] 50 nautical miles from Gaza. Maybe, in some cases, up to 100 nautical miles, but not 500, ever,” he said. “We are really concerned mostly about how rogue and out of control the Israeli military has become.”
World cannot stand idle: Global Summud Flotilla
In its press release, the Global Sumud Flotilla said the world cannot stand idle as Israel extends its control to waters off European coasts.
“What we are witnessing is an attempt to normalize Israeli control over the Mediterranean itself and an escalation of Israel’s impunity,” it said.
There’s debate over the legality of Israel enforcing its naval blockade in international waters, but some experts say international law protects the delivery of aid, regardless.
Israel said its naval blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics consider it collective punishment.
On Thursday, Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the latest seizure of boats in the flotilla as “an act of piracy.”
“By targeting the Global Sumud Flotilla, whose mission is to draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe faced by the innocent people of Gaza, Israel has also violated humanitarian principles and international law,” the ministry said in a statement.
Previous flotilla leads to hundreds in custody
Last fall, Israel took more than 400 activists, including Greta Thunberg and the grandson of Nelson Mandela, into custody during the first sailing of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Shortly after, six Canadians sailing in the Freedom Flotilla, which has been attempting to land ships in Gaza since 2010, were also detained.
Israel later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities abused them while in detention. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.
In 2010, Israeli commandos raided the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara, which had been participating in an aid flotilla attempting to reach Gaza. Nine Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American on board were killed. The last time an activist boat succeeded in reaching the strip was in 2008.
A fragile six month-old ceasefire in Gaza has halted the most intense fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas-led militants in the Palestinian enclave. But despite the ceasefire, Israeli attacks have killed more than 790 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
Overall, the health ministry said 72,300 Palestinians had been killed since the war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
The attack saw Hamas-led militants storm into southern Israel and kill around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Around two million Gaza residents are still living in ruins with shortages of food and medicine, and only limited aid entering through a single, Israeli-controlled border post.
