Israel Attacks Gaza Flotilla Near Greek Waters

PALESTINE ISRAEL GAZA GENOCIDE, 4 May 2026

Ann Wright | Consortium News - TRANSCEND Media Service

Some boats of Global Sumud Flotilla at dock in Augusta, Sicily, Italy on April 2026. (Ann Wright)

Israeli military boats travelled more than 700 miles on Wednesday [29 Apr] night to attack a 54-ship flotilla that was headed for Gaza to attempt to break the illegal Israeli naval blockade.

30 Apr 2026 (Siracusa, Sicily, Italy) – Yesterday evening Israeli naval forces attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) to Gaza.

An unknown number of Israeli military ships went over 700 miles to attack the 54-ship flotilla that was headed for Gaza.

It was attempting to break the illegal Israeli naval blockade and to bring worldwide attention to the continuing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza; the Israeli ethnic cleansing of the West Bank; the destruction and occupation of southern Lebanon and the attacks on Iran.

Twenty-one boats were attacked by Israeli naval forces about 80 nautical miles west of the Greek island of Crete in international waters.

One hundred seventy nine participants from 33 countries were taken against their will from boats that were damaged by Israeli naval forces and put onto a commercial cargo ship that may arrive at the Israeli port of Ashdod around Saturday.

We anticipate that they will be processed at a dock facility in Ashdod, then transported to an Israeli prison and in three-to-five days be deported from the country with a 10-100 year ban on returning to Israel.

That means that one cannot get to the West Bank for actions in solidarity with Palestinians who are under attack by Zionist Israeli settlers who steal Palestinian land and animals and burn Palestinian houses and cars.

Fifteen U.S. citizens were among the 179 that were kidnapped by Israeli forces.

Thirty two flotilla boats remain afloat although many were damaged by Israeli naval forces and may be forced into ports on the large Greek island of Crete for repairs. No doubt the Israeli naval forces will be lurking like sharks in the waters off Crete waiting for the small boats to come out.

Four More Boats in Siracusa

I am in Siracusa, Sicily, with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC)  and its four boats, two of which came from the Thousand Madleens organization.

The FFC has been sailing boats to break the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza since 2010 with over 35 boats sailed in the years from 2008-2025.

Last year, 2025, was a remarkable year for international citizen solidarity with Palestine.

In July the Madleen sailboat sailed to break the Siege of Gaza, followed by the 3,000-plus-person Global Sumud Land Convoy through Egypt, Libya and Tunisa, followed by the FFC ship Handala sailing to break the blockade, followed by the 42-boat Global Sumud Flotilla, followed by the FFC Conscience ship that sailed with eight boats of the “Thousand Madleens.”

Actions Against US Complicity in Israeli Genocide of Gaza

Flotilla Members being abducted on high seas by Israel on Thursday. (Global Flotilla handout)

As a U.S. citizen in opposition to U.S. government complicity in Israeli attacks on Gaza, no matter which political party is in power,  I have been a part of the flotilla movement since 2010 as a participant, including the large ship Mavi Marmara, on which Israeli soldiers killed 10 people and wounded 50.

All six ships in that flotilla were attacked by Israeli naval forces and participants were assaulted, taken to Israel, imprisoned and ultimately deported.

The Flotilla will continue to sail boats until the genocide of Gaza ends and the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza is broken.

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Ann Wright is a 29-year US Army/Army Reserves veteran, a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is most noted for having been one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Wright was also a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the Gaza flotilla. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December, 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book Dissent: Voices of Conscience. She has written frequently on rape in the military.

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JOIN THE BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS CAMPAIGN TO PROTEST THE ISRAELI BARBARIC GENOCIDE OF PALESTINIANS IN GAZA.

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