International advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has accused Israel of kidnapping journalists traveling on board of the Gaza-bound activist flotilla intercepted by the Israeli Navy on Thursday.
The Israeli forces seized 22 of the 58 boats of the pro-Palestinian Second Sumud Flotilla near the Greek island of Crete, detaining 175 people, according to Israeli officials. The organizers. meanwhile, said that 211 activists were “kidnapped.”
The boats sailed from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12 with the intention of breaching the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave.
“RSF condemns the Israeli army’s abduction of 3 journalists in international waters: Hafedh Mribah (French) & Mahmut Yavuz (Turkish) from Al Jazeera, and Alex Colston (American), a contributor to the outlet Zeteo,” the group wrote on X on Thursday. “The Israeli army is responsible for their safety,” the RSF added.
Israel announced it had taken control of 21 out of 58 vessels from the Gaza-bound flotilla, in a piracy operation carried out in international waters about 1,000 km off the coast of occupied Palestine. pic.twitter.com/Gpa6NOxn3Q
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) April 30, 2026
The passengers included Margaret Connolly, a physician and a sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly, who told The Journal over the phone on Thursday that the interception of the boats was “absolutely illegal.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a frequent critic of Israel, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of violating international maritime law and called on the EU to suspend a trade agreement with the country.
Netanyahu thanked the Navy for intercepting a flotilla of “Hamas supporters.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed the flotilla as a “PR stunt,” adding that all activists “who were taken off the vessels were taken off unharmed” and would be offloaded on a shore in Greece.
Israel intercepted several such flotillas in the past, including dozens of boats in June 2025, whose passengers included climate activist Greta Thunberg and French politician Rima Hassan.
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