Alex Croft, James C. Reynolds & Nicole Wootton-Cane
The Independent / October 2, 2025
Israel says Greta Thunberg is ‘safe’ as Gaza aid flotilla intercepted by military.
The flotilla was intercepted around 130km from Gaza on Wednesday evening.
Greta Thunberg’s aid flotilla was “aggressively circled” by an Israeli military vessel as it made its final approach to Gaza, activists have said.
One of the lead vessels was forced to make a sharp manoeuvre to avoid a frontal collision with an Israeli ship, a statement by the Global Sumud Flotilla said.
Communications were remotely disabled as the Israeli ship “steered dangerously close” on Tuesday night, it added.
A second vessel in the flotilla, Sirius, was afterwards targeted by the boat, which repeated “similar harassing manoeuvres for an extended period of time – before finally departing”.
“Warships disabled communications, aggressively circled civilian boats, and forced captains into sharp evasive actions to avoid collision,” a statement shared on Wednesday read.
“These hostile actions placed unarmed civilians from over 40 countries in grave danger.”
The Independent has approached the IDF for comment.
Lisi Proenca, on board Sirius, told a press conference on Wednesday that she was on night watch when “really fast” boats came towards them.
“It didn’t hit our boat, but it came really close, and then they were circling,” she said, adding that communications appeared jammed.
The boats moved away after some 15 minutes, she said.
Thiago Avila, on board Alma, said in a press conference on Wednesday morning that the incident had “elements of a cyberattack … against our boats”.
There was no structural damage and nobody was wounded, he said.
The flotilla is continuing its journey to Gaza with around 500 activists on board, including civilians from more than 40 countries.
On Tuesday, it entered the “high-risk zone” as it neared the Gaza coast.
Italy, which had sent a navy vessel to escort the boats, last night issued a warning to the boats to turn back from their mission.
“A hope of agreement has finally opened up to end the war and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population and to stabilise the region. A fragile balance, which many would be happy to disrupt,” Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said.
Israel has been preparing for the flotilla, ahead of its expected arrival this week.
The IDF’s naval forces are anticipating possible ‘active takeovers’ of vessels, Israeli outlet i24 News reported today. A special task force has reportedly been set up ahead of the approach, a joint effort between the IDF, Shin Bet, police and the Foreign Ministry.
The activists would be brought to shore and likely detained and deported, or held in custody if they refuse, the outlet reports. Thunberg was previously deported from Israel after her Gaza aid boat was intercepted in the Mediterranean in June.
The organisers of the new GSF have already reported difficulty in the flotilla’s approach to Gaza.
The organisers claimed on Tuesday 23 September that several vessels had been targeted by Israeli drones in international waters off Crete.
“Our boats were repeatedly attacked by military drones,” Maria Elena Delia, the GSF’s Italian spokesperson, said at the time. “They struck us with unknown but irritating substances, with sound bombs, and even with drones that deliberately damaged the masts of several vessels.”
No casualties were reported among more than 500 people on board the vessels.
Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto denounced the alleged attack and said he had redirected an Italian navy ship in the area to offer support.
The GSF also said that the flotilla was attacked in Tunisian waters on 9 September.
They posted footage appearing to show one vessel being hit by an object outside the port of Sidi Bou Said.
Tunisian authorities said that a drone was involved and said an initial inspection indicated the explosion came from inside the boat.
The GSF then shared footage appearing to show a second vessel being hit later in the night. They said the boat “sustained fire damage on its top deck”.
No injuries were reported.
The vessels left Barcelona on 1 September with a flotilla of some 40 vessels.
Alex Croft is a London-based news reporter for The Independent
James C. Reynolds – freelance journalist
Nicole Wootton-Cane – senior journalist
