TEHRAN – The Israeli Navy intercepted and boarded Poland’s insane Marinette on Friday, the last ship in the global Smood fleet, towing a mile about 42.5 nautical miles from Gaza to about 42.5 nautical miles, seized six crew members to Ashdod.
The seizure completed the demolition of a fleet of 42 ships after more than 450 activists were already in custody during previous boarding.
The fleet was more than just an iconic theatre. The name “Sumud” means immobility, and the mission combined food and medical shipping with a direct challenge to Israel’s illegal naval blockade.
Hungerness has been officially confirmed, and there is an effort carried both symbolic and practical weight for the hungry families of Gaza, where hundreds of people have died from starvation.
Organizers described the voyage as an attempt to establish a “humanitarian corridor,” bypassing Israeli-controlled channels that were consistently restricted or delayed.
The hundreds detained included veteran campaigners and prominent figures such as Greta Samberg and European officials such as France’s Lima Hassan. Many were taken to processing centres, and some were transferred to a high security facility in Ktzi’ot in the Negev Desert as deportation procedures began.
According to the International Commission to Breave the Siege of Gaza, several detainees announced open-ended hunger strikes within hours of capture, denying food “from the moment of detention” and refusing to protest denial of relief to the besieged civilians.
Israeli extremist national security minister Itamar Ben Gwil exploited detainees as props to political spectacles. He was filmed at the detention scene and made activists laugh as “terrorists.”
Later that day, he urged them to be jailed for “they can smell the scent of the terrorist wings,” and condemned the plan to deport Netanyahu’s plan as “a fundamental mistake.” Critics described his actions as intimidation and violation of the activist fundamental rights.
There is substantial legal objection to Israel’s actions. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), vessels in international waters enjoy freedom of navigation. Boarding and seizing civilian ships is illegal unless justified by copyright infringement or self-defense, unless applicable to humanitarian missions.
UN experts also urged safe passage, emphasizing that Israel should not interfere with freedom of navigation.
Once activists were detained, the International Contract on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) demanded that they be informed of the reasons for their arrest, given a lawyer and brought them to the judge.
The fourth Geneva Convention Bar occupy the power that obstructs relief commissions and prevents humanitarian relief from preventing or attacking them. Critics say fleet interception and delinquents violated these standards.
Rights groups, including Adalah and Amnesty International, have reported further violations. Deportation hearings initiated without notice to detainees’ attorneys, restricting access to legal counsel, and expedited removal. Several activists have already been deported, while others face indefinite detention.
For Gaza, the siege is absolute. With boundary intersections sealed and maritime relief blocked, more than 2 million people remain trapped under artillery fire, facing hunger, disease and displacement.
The fleet was more than an iconic gesture. It was a small but concrete effort to drill holes in the blockade, which has been widely accused of collective punishment.
The capture highlights whether there is still a means to provide assistance or assert its claim to the most fundamental rights under international law, particularly as the Western government withholds support for SUMUD and allows it to be suppressed by Israel.
Seizures crystallize a greater choice. It is whether international norms protect civil voyages and humanitarian remedies, or whether political sights continue to protect violations of the law.
For those on the Sumud Flotilla, the voyage embodied a constant resistance. For Gaza families, that loss is another measure of how international law is failing those in the most needy, despite Washington and Tel Aviv claiming to promote a new “peace program” that calls for Hamas to surrender, with many governments rallying to pressure resistance while ignoring the citizens under siege.
Sumud’s fate shows that diplomatic energy is being consumed by political negotiations, while urgent needs of the people of Gaza (food, medicine, survival) remain abandoned at sea.