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UPDATE: Israel Seizes Global Sumud Flotilla—Imprisons 462 Activists, Held in Brutal Conditions

Sparking Global Outpouring of Protest, and a New Flotilla Sets Sail

This past week, the Israeli military illegally intercepted and seized the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters.

What was the Global Sumud (“resistance” or “steadfastness” in Arabic) Flotilla’s “crime”? Trying to bring desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza, who are being massacred and deliberately starved by Israel’s barbaric, U.S.-backed Zionist regime.

Israel detained all 462 activists onboard the 40-some vessels and locked up most of them in Ktzi'ot, a high-security prison in the Negev desert, where they’ve been sadistically tortured and abused by their Israeli jailers. 

The globally renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg has been viciously targeted. According to the Guardian, she told the Swedish Embassy she was being held in a cell “infested with bedbugs,” with too little food and water, and has developed rashes. She also reported “sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.” A fellow activist from Turkey reports: "They dragged little Greta by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others." 

Other activists report they are being denied water, sanitation, medication and immediate access to their legal representatives, and are subjected to verbal and physical abuse. One Turkish activist said, “women were kept in a dog shelter, denied food for three days, forced to drink toilet water.” 

Israel’s fascist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir was videotaped mocking and trying to humiliate the detainees, calling them “terrorists” as he stood before them. Some courageous activists can be heard shouting: “Free Palestine.”

Gaza Flotilla Interception Sparks Global Protests

According to the International Committee to Break the Siege of Gaza, a number of detainees began an open-ended hunger strike in protest of their detention.

The activists come from 47 different countries. At this writing, 134 have been released and deported, but 328 are still in Israel’s dungeons. 

The capture of the Global Sumud Flotilla sparked a global wave of protests. Italian labor unions launched a nationwide general strike. In Rome, hundreds of thousands protested for the activists’ release. 

There have also been other protests all over the world, including in: Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Brussels, Belgium; Athens, Greece; Buenos Aires, Argentina; London, England; Paris, France; New York City; Naples, Italy; Melborne and Sydney, Australia; Tangier, Morocco; Kuala Lumpur, Malasia; Mexico City; Belfast, Ireland; Montreal, Canada; Berlin, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; and more.

In Israel itself, a handful of anti-occupation Israelis attempted to enter Gaza on foot and were brutally stopped by Israeli soldiers.

A new flotilla, with nine boats, set off from Italy for Gaza as soon as the Global Sumud Flotilla was attacked and halted. This latest flotilla includes the Conscience, carrying 90 activists from 26 countries, including paramedics and journalists. 

Now this flotilla must be defended and protected! And much more, ongoing protest and outrage is called for! 

Release the Global Samud Flotilla Detainees! 

Lift Israel’s Blockade of Gaza! Stop the U.S.-Israeli Genocide of the Palestinian People!

Follow the flotilla on Instagram: @globalsumudflotilla

Online: Global Sumud Flotilla

See also: UPDATE: Global Sumud Flotilla Sets Sail Again for Gaza After Another Israeli Attack, revcom.us, September 29, 2025.

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