We’ve been in contact with Australians who are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla being intercepted by Israeli forces as it tries to reach the Gaza shoreline.
One of them, Juliet Lamont, told us she and her fellow crew members were still moving on their sailing boat, Wahoo, even though others were being stopped. “We are continually getting swarmed and sprayed with high-powered water cannons,” she said in a message.
The communications are breaking up, however, because the Israeli operation includes electronic disruption to jam GPS positioning systems and VHF radio.
When we spoke to Lamont earlier, a few hours before the interception, she told us the Israeli jamming was able to take over their radio and play Bob Marley. The song chosen was Three Little Birds. Its famous lyrics include the line, “Every little thing is gonna be alright.”
A live video feed from one of the boats in the flotilla showed passengers in life vests sitting on deck.Credit: AP
Another Australian, Surya McEwen, on board Mia Mia, told us he saw 25 military ships approaching the flotilla before the jamming and water cannon began. He and his fellow crew members were able to steer away from the operation and recover some communications with Starlink.
The situation is changing fast and some of the vessels in the flotilla have lost communications. Some have been boarded. The organisers said at 7.16am, AEST, that all passengers were unharmed. It will be difficult to confirm details as the communications are jammed.
The Israeli foreign ministry, meanwhile, has rejected the claim that the flotilla wanted to deliver aid. It considers it to be an illegal exercise, and it says countries like Greece and Italy offered to deliver the aid for them, adding: “The flotilla refused because they are not interested in aid, but in provocation.”
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