“Did you hear that?”, “Do not engage”, “They are coming” and “Red, red, red. They are here.”
This was some of the tense exchange that could be heard on board the lead ship of the Global Sumud Flotilla in the Mediterranean before its communications appeared to be cut on Wednesday night.
The 41 boats of the flotilla had been due to reach Gaza on Thursday morning with their cargo of humanitarian aid, when 12 unidentified ships were spotted approaching fast after darkness fell on Wednesday.
Organisers had vowed to press on to try to reach the territory “regardless of the threats we receive, regardless of the pressure” as Israeli media reported that naval forces expected to sink some boats and tow others to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
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The activists, lawyers, journalists and medics on board would be captured and then deported from Israel, the reports said.
As the 41 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla reached a point on their journey that was roughly a 15-hour sail from the coast of Gaza on Wednesday night, 12 unidentified ships approached fast.
Lead organiser Thiago Ávila attempted to contact the ships over the radio. We “are a civilian mission that is bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza”, he said in the radio call, “requesting identification from the vessels ahead of us”.
Livestream from the lead flotilla ship, the Alma, showed crew on board spotting something in the water to the right of the ship. “Flotilla flotilla flotilla, this is Alma Alma Alma. The first [inaudible] boats are arriving, please prepare for interception,” a crew member called over the radio.
The Alma passengers could be seen sitting down in a circle formation on the deck of the ship, before the live camera feed went black.
On board the nearby Aurora, activist Caitríona Graham, originally from Dublin, took charge as lead organiser and relieved the captain and crew of their responsibilities.
“We have various boats losing communications. Some of our radio channels have already been jammed,” she said in a voice message to The Irish Times, warning that her signal could be blocked at any moment. She described bright lights surrounding the Alma visible through the darkness and drones overhead.
The flotilla passengers had prepared with daily drills in case they were intercepted by the Israeli navy. They were instructed to hold up their hands to show they were peaceful and not to hold phones in case these were perceived as weapons.
“There’s adrenaline, for sure, there’s energy, but overall I feel calm. We’re ready for this. We’re prepared,” Graham said.
“What we’re doing is fully legal. It is right according to what we should be doing as people in a situation like this, responding to a genocide. We are ready. They should not be doing this. It is unjust.”
Later, the flotilla’s organisers said military personnel had boarded its boats.
