Staff Reporter :
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), carrying humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people in Gaza, said that Israel has committed against the humanitarian activists by illegally intercepting their vessels in international waters from Oct 1-3.
“The Israeli response has resulted and continues to result in a series of illegal and violent acts that constitute serious violations of international maritime, humanitarian, and human rights law,” GSF said in a statement on Saturday.
Highlighting a list of crimes committed by Israel, GSF said that illegal interception of the vessels violates the customary norms of international law as accepted under Articles 19,88 and 301 of UNCLOS, which requires that states respect the peaceful and safe passage of vessels.
“Israel does not have the right to intercept civilian vessels according to UNCLOS Article110,” it added.
It further said that the abduction and arbitrary arrest by Israel violates Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“The activists were not combatants or a military threat. The activists are legitimate citizens participating in a humanitarian mission, neither are they irregular migrants attempting to enter Israel territory contrary to Israeli immigrations laws,” GSF said.
It also said mentioned that Israel has committed crimes which include, forced transfer to prisons in Israel; physical violence and inhuman treatment by the use of cannons; defaming peaceful citizens is a form of illegal stigmatization; unlawful processing of activists as illegal immigrants before the Immigration Authority; repeated drone attacks against the Flotilla; attack of the vessels and seizure thereof; and forcibly intercepting and seizing a civilian carrying humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza.
GSF said that their vessels were intercepted on the High Seas and not in Israel’s territorial waters and jurisdiction. The Global Sumud Flotilla never intended to go into Israeli territorial waters. Israel has no legal jurisdiction over the 12 mile territorial waters around the shores of the Gaza strip. The 458 participants are being arbitrarily detained with no legal grounds. The participants did not intend to go to Israel and were instead brought to Israel by unlawful force.
The Israeli maritime blockade has been in place for 17 years and is an intrinsic part of the long-term occupation found illegal in the ICJ advisory opinion. It is therefore not a short-term measure in time of armed conflict as specified in the San Remo manual, it also pointed out.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshi renowned photographers and human rights activist Shahidul Alam in his Facebook post on Saturday wrote: “No tyrant has ever prevailed against people power. Israel too will fail. Palestine will be free.”
Describing the situation there, he wrote, “Thousand Madleens was a remarkable concept. In the face of total inaction and hypocrisy by world leaders in preventing a genocide, the people of the world have decided to take action themselves. The idea of a thousand ships is symbolic, but it has certainly been the largest fleet of sea going vessels to unite in this manner.”
“Conscience, the largest vessel to participate in this movement was the last to start. It set off on 30th September 2025 from Otranto in Italy, by the 2nd October, the earlier vessels of Sumud Flotilla had been intercepted by the IDF. One vessel that had evaded capture has also since been captured. But 8 other boats had set off just before Conscience. There are two other Floating Freedom Coalition boats as well, though we are not sure of their condition,” he added.
“The Conscience, being a faster boat, caught up with them mid sea. We just went right through these vessels at high sea, but have now decided to slow down and approach Gaza as a group. The sense of solidarity on both sides is remarkable. This is people power in action. Whatever Israel plans to do, this is one human sea it is incapable of stopping. We on the conscience are determined to break the siege. If they do stop us, there will be others. No tyrant has ever prevailed against people power. Israel too will fail. Palestine will be free,” he concluded.
No tyrant has ever prevailed against
people power: Shahidul Alam
