7/27/2025–|Last update: 03:10 (Mecca time)
Israeli forces, “Handala”, heading to the Gaza Strip, stormed, on the seventh day of its journey launched by the International Committee to break the siege on the Strip, with the aim of ending the Israeli siege imposed for years.
The storming process came during the presence of the ship in international waters, after a series of Israeli threats to the ship’s crew, which included controlling it by force if it continued to sail towards the coast of Gaza.
According to the last photos, which were broadcast before the interruption of the communication, Israeli soldiers appeared confiscating surveillance cameras, and stopping the live broadcast of the ship, amid the declaration of a state of emergency on board after two unknown boats and Israeli march aircraft approached.
In their recent statements, the joint activists on board the “Handala” ship confirmed their full readiness for all possible scenarios, and stressed that they are proceeding with their mission to break the siege, whatever the results.
The ICRC also announced that the solidarity – including representatives of European parliaments and artistic and media figures – will also enter an open hunger strike if the ship is intercepted.
The ICRC condemned the ship’s objection to international waters, outside the Palestinian territorial waters off the coast of Gaza, and considered it a “clear violation of international naval law.”
The Israeli army attacks the “Handala” ship in international waters and kidnaps 21 defenseless civilians
The Freedom Fleet coalition confirms that the civil ship, Handala, which was on its way to break the illegal and elaborate Israeli siege imposed on the Palestinians in Gaza, was subjected to violent objection by the Israeli army in … pic.twitter.com/qhcnauyqbf
– icbsg | The International Committee to break the siege on Gaza (@ICBSOFGAZA) July 26, 2025
Denunciation
In the reactions to the ship’s storming, the government media office in Gaza described the operation as a “crime of new naval piracy”, holding the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the safety of the participants, and called on the international community and the United Nations to take an urgent and firm position against what he described as “Israeli aggression.”
For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) strongly condemned the Israeli operation, considering that it was “a blatant challenge to human will, a revelation of the falsehood of the occupation”, and held the Netanyahu government responsible for the safety of activists, calling for the continuation of the conduct of marine convoys until the end of the siege.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also denounced the storming process strongly, describing it as a “new piracy crime” added to the record of Israeli attacks against international activists, calling on the international community to condemn the incident and intensify efforts to break the siege imposed on Gaza.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgvluaq7eqg
“Israel does not have any legal authority to detention international civilians on the Handala ship. This is not an Israeli internal issue. These are foreign citizens working according to international law and international waters. Their arbitrary and illegal detention must end immediately.”
The Handhala ship is 21 international activists of multiple nationalities, in a new attempt to break the continuous blockade of Gaza for more than 17 years.
Since the ship sailing from the Italian port of Gallipoli last Sunday, the Freedom Fleet Alliance has been broadcasting its movements live through its account on the YouTube application, with the sharing of radar images in an instantaneous manner.
