Gaza aid flotilla defies Israeli 'intimidation tactics'

A flotilla carrying aid to war-battered Gaza said Wednesday that it would stay its course despite what it called "intimidation tactics" by the Israeli military.

The Global Sumud Flotilla -- around 45 vessels carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg -- left Spain last month, aiming to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory, where the UN says famine has set in.

"In the early hours of this morning, Israeli occupation naval forces launched an intimidatory operation against the Global Sumud Flotilla," the organisers said as the vessels approached waters off Egypt, where Israel has intercepted previous attempts.

Spain and Italy, which both sent naval escorts, urged the ships to halt before entering Israel's declared exclusion zone off Gaza.

After a 10-day stop in Tunisia, where organisers reported two drone attacks, the flotilla resumed its journey on September 15.

One of its main ships, the Alma, was "aggressively circled by an Israeli warship", the group said, before another vessel, the Sirius was subjected to "similar harassing manoeuvres".

Marie Mesmeur, a French lawmaker aboard the Sirius, said that she saw at least two unidentified ships, one "very, very close", and that during the encounter radar and internet communications were cut.

-'Stop now'-

The flotilla said on X it remained "vigilant as we enter the area where the previous flotillas were intercepted and/or attacked".

Israel blocked similar attempts in June and July.

At around 1500 GMT on Wednesday, the flotilla said it was less than 90 nautical miles (about 170 kilometres) from the Gaza Strip.

"We sail on undeterred by Israeli threats and tactics of intimidation," said the flotilla, which is also carrying Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela and Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European Parliament member.

Spain's digital transformation minister, Oscar Lopez, had urged the flotilla not to cross into Israels declared exclusion zone, extending 150 nautical miles off Gaza.

"Our message to the flotilla has been clear: do not enter that zone," he told Spanish public television, adding that Spain's naval escort would not cross into the exclusion area.

Italy, too, urged the activists to "stop now" after its frigate also halted at the 150-nautical-mile limit, broadcasting radio messages to the activists' vessels asking them to abandon their mission.

The activists said Spain and Italy's decision was an attempt to "sabotage" their endeavours.

South Africa called for "utmost restraint and caution against any unilateral actions that could escalate the situation or endanger human life".

It said the "safety, security, and physical integrity of all unarmed participants aboard the flotilla, including South African citizens, are of paramount importance".

In a joint statement, Italy and Greece appealed to Israeli authorities to "guarantee the safety and integrity of the flotilla's participants".

Rome and Athens also urged the flotilla to "refrain from any initiative that could be exploited by those who still reject peace".

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the activists "do not represent a danger or a threat to Israel", hoping that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu's government will not represent a threat to this flotilla either".

Speaking ahead of a European Council meeting Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called on the activists to halt their voyage, saying it could jeopardise US President Donald Trump's latest proposed Gaza peace plan, currently still under negotiation.

"In the face of a historic opportunity, I cannot understand the insistence on an initiative that carries elements of danger and irresponsibility," she said.