Gaza-bound flotilla expects Israeli interception 'tonight or tomorrow'
Activists say they are approximately 322 kilometres from Gaza, near the zone where past flotillas were intercepted.
Ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing toward Gaza are preparing for a possible interception by Israel as they approach a designated high-risk zone in the eastern Mediterranean, Italy's La Stampa reported.
Two of the flotilla's vessels, Jeannot III and Estrella, are continuing their courses with an expected arrival in three days, while activists said the mission could face Israeli intervention within hours.
"We are about 200 miles from Gaza, so two or three days of sailing. We are in the middle of international waters between Greece and Türkiye. Most likely, tonight or tomorrow, we will be intercepted by the Israeli army," Yassine Lafram, president of the Union of Islamic Communities of Italy (UCOII), said in a video update aboard the Karma vessel.
Calling any such action "an act of piracy, a kidnapping that violates every rule of international law", Lafram stressed that the flotilla remains determined to deliver humanitarian aid and "break the siege imposed on the entire Gaza".
Italian activist Tony La Piccirella noted earlier that the flotilla would soon enter the interception zone.
"There is no set limit for the naval blockade, but it is as long as other states allow Israel to do so," said La Piccirella.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, made up of about 50 ships with over 500 activists onboard, set sail earlier this month to break Israel's blockade and deliver humanitarian aid, particularly medical supplies, to Gaza.