ICSPR Interception of the Global Sumoud Flotilla and Arrest of Its Participants Constitute Maritime Piracy and Organized State Terrorism Requiring Urgent International Intervention to Protect Flotilla Activists

Date: 18 May 2025

Press Release

ICSPR: Interception of the Global Sumoud Flotilla and Arrest of Its Participants Constitute Maritime Piracy and Organized State Terrorism Requiring Urgent International Intervention to Protect Flotilla Activists

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the large-scale military attack carried out by Israeli occupation forces against the Global Sumoud Flotilla in international waters near Cyprus, while it was en route on a peaceful humanitarian mission aimed at breaking the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and delivering humanitarian aid to the besieged civilian population.

ICSPR affirms that the siege and storming of the vessels, the forced boarding of the flotilla boats, the seizure of a large number of them, and the cutting of communications with several vessels constitute a full-fledged act of maritime piracy and a flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, the law of the sea, and freedom of navigation in international waters. It also constitutes a direct attack on unarmed civilian vessels carrying out a purely humanitarian mission.

According to the information available to the Commission, Israeli occupation forces arrested approximately $100$ participants from the flotilla that was heading from Turkey to the Gaza Strip, as part of an organized military operation amounting to a war crime, amid alarming reports that a number of solidarity activists were assaulted and subjected to ill-treatment before being transferred to detention centers and floating prisons, raising serious concerns for their physical safety.

Information issued by flotilla activists also indicates that contact remains lost with a number of vessels, while some boats continue sailing despite military interception and threats, in a scene that reflects the scale of the escalation and the gravity of the danger facing civilian activists.

ICSPR stresses that this assault cannot be separated from Israel’s crimes and policies of blockade, collective punishment, and starvation imposed on more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It reflects the occupation’s determination to prevent any humanitarian or international solidarity effort aimed at breaking this unlawful blockade, amid alarming international silence that further aggravates the seriousness of these violations.

The Commission further affirms that targeting civilian vessels carrying solidarity activists from dozens of countries, and attacking humanitarian crews at sea, constitutes a dangerous assault on international humanitarian action, undermines the principles of civilian protection, and threatens the foundations of the international legal order and freedom of navigation worldwide.

ICSPR warns of the danger of the continued policy of impunity and of international normalization with the targeting of peaceful humanitarian initiatives, due to its devastating consequences for the future of humanitarian action and the protection of civilians in conflict zones.

Accordingly, ICSPR affirms the following:

1. The immediate and unconditional release of all detained activists and solidarity participants, the urgent disclosure of the fate of the vessels with which contact has been lost, and guarantees for the safety of all participants.

2. The cessation of all Israeli military attacks on civilian vessels, respect for freedom of navigation in international waters, and the provision of a safe and immediate passage for the flotilla to complete its humanitarian mission without obstruction.

3. The opening of an international investigation into the crime of attacking the Sumoud Flotilla and adding it to the list of international crimes, and holding those responsible accountable through international accountability mechanisms, including the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, in order to prosecute the perpetrators of maritime piracy, arbitrary detention, and attacks on humanitarian work.

4. Urgent international action to stop the crimes of the Israeli occupation and the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, and to open safe and permanent humanitarian corridors for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

5. The United Nations, the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, international human rights and humanitarian organizations, and all free people of the world must assume their legal and moral responsibilities and take immediate action to protect international solidarity activists and stop this ongoing assault on the Palestinian people.