The flotilla set sail in August and has pro-Palestine activists from around the world on board.
Israel intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on Wednesday evening as it approached Palestinian territory, triggering a wave of street protests in Italy.
“Here you can see the interception to one of our boats,” French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, who is on board one of the boats in the flotilla, said in a video posted on social media.
In a livestream video by the flotilla’s official channel, crew members on different boats are seen wearing life jackets and sitting in a circle while waiting to be intercepted.
News of the Israeli enforcement of the blockade immediately triggered demonstrations by pro-Palestine groups in major cities, stations and ports around Europe, particularly in Italy where the flotilla has become a political headache for Giorgia Meloni’s government.
In Rome, activists gathered outside Termini station, while at Naples central station the tracks were blocked by protesters for an hour.
The main trade unions have called a general strike for Friday, Oct. 3. The USB union accused the Israelis of “piracy” in a statement saying: “We are blocking everything. A fleet composed of workers, volunteers, representatives of movements and civil society, sailing with a cargo of basic necessities, has been struck by an act of war against peace, against humanity, against international law.”
Mezzocannone Occupato, one of the pro-Palestine groups, wrote on Facebook: “We said we would block everything, and we are doing so. Free Palestine, hands off the Global Sumud Flotilla.”
There were also protests in Brussels, where a large crowd gathered in Place de la Bourse, and at Berlin central station, according to videos posted on social media.
The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, set sail in August and has pro-Palestine activists from around the world on board, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and MEPs.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video to social media that appeared to show Thunberg being given water while being apprehended. It said that several vessels of what it called the “Hamas-Sumud flotilla” had been safely stopped.
Speaking to state media Rai TV after the flotilla was intercepted, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the Italians involved in the flotilla “will probably be taken to the port of Ashdod but then deported. I believe there will be a flight that will take them to Europe together with the others.”
The Israeli boarding had been “expected,” he said, adding that the important thing is “that there are no acts of violence.”
Meloni warned on Tuesday that the flotilla’s actions could jeopardize the U.S. president’s peace plan for Gaza.
“With the Middle East peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, there is finally hope for an agreement to end the war and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population and stabilize the region,” Meloni wrote on social platform X.
Among those on board the flotilla are Italian MEPs Benedetta Scuderi (Greens) and Annalisa Corrado (S&D), and French MEPs Mélissa Camara (Greens) and Hassan (The Left).
Speaking to POLITICO earlier on Wednesday, Hassan’s team said that while she was glad to take part in the mission, her team feared the potential consequences. “We fear violence,” they said. “She is an MEP, which should offer some reassurance, but because she is Palestinian, we worry something could happen to her. Last time, she was placed in solitary confinement.”
This story is being updated.