Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s interception of the global Sumud flotilla and described the action as an obvious violation of international law and international humanitarian law.
In a statement on Thursday, the Foreign Office (FO) said the illegal detention of international activists aboard the flotilla threatened the lives of innocent civilians.
The flotilla, which consisted of more than 40 civilian ships and carries about 500 international activists, was on its way to providing humanitarian assistance to the population of Gaza.
The Foreign Office said the interception was part of Israel’s “ongoing pattern of aggression” and its illegal blockade of Gaza, which has caused enormous human suffering for more than two million Palestinians. It added that the conscious obstacle to humanitarian relief constituted a serious breach of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power during the fourth Geneva Convention.
When he repeated his attitude, Pakistan called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire across all occupied Palestinian territories; lifting the blockade of Gaza; unobstructed humanitarian access; Release of all activists aboard the flotilla; and accountability for Israel’s violations of international law.
The statement confirmed Pakistan’s “unwavering support and solidarity” with the Palestinian people in their struggle for the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent, sovereign and coherent state of Palestine based on before the 1967 boundaries with al-Qud’s al-Sharif as its capital.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned what he called an “creepy attack” by Israeli forces on Samud Gaza Flotilla, a convoy of 40 vessels carrying more than 450 humanitarian workers from 44 countries.
In a statement, the Prime Minister expressed concern for those who are “illegally arrested” by Israeli forces and called for their immediate release. “Their only crime was to bear help to the unhappy Palestinian people,” he said.
Pakistan strongly condemns the eerie attack by Israeli forces of 40 vessel Samud Gaza Flotilla and carries over 450 humanitarian workers from 44 countries.
We hope and ask for the security of all those who have been illegally arrested by Israeli forces and calls for their …– Shehbaz Sharif (@cmshehbaz) October 1, 2025
Shehbaz added that “this barbarity must end,” and calls for peace to get a chance and humanitarian help was allowed to reach the distressed.
Read: Israel captures the global sumud flotilla, cuts communication
Israeli forces have stopped 13 both carrying foreign activists and assistance tied to Gaza, but 30 boats continue to sail against the war-raised Palestinian enclave, the flotilla organizers said on Thursday.
A video from the Israeli Foreign Ministry verified by Reuters showed the most prominent of Flotilla’s passengers, the Swedish climate campaign Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
The global Sumud Flotilla – about 45 vessels carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish climate campaign Greta Thunberg – left Spain last month with the aim of breaking Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory, where the UN says famine has settled.
The global sumud flotilla, transport of medicine and food to Gaza, consists of more than 40 civilians with about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists.
Read more: Pakistanis, global activists reach Tunisia to sail for Gaza on Sumud Flotilla
The flotilla posted several videos on telegram with messages from individuals aboard the different boats, some have their passports and claimed they were abducted and led to Israel against their will, and reiterated that their mission was a non-violent humanitarian cause.
The flotilla is the most profiled symbol of resistance to Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
Its progress on the Mediterranean received international attention when nations, including Turkey, Spain and Italy, sent boats or drones in the event that their citizens demanded help, even though it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to return.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry called Israel’s “attack” on the flotilla “A terrorist act” that threatened the lives of innocent civilians.
In a joint statement, Italy and Greece appealed to Israeli authorities to “guarantee the security and integrity of Flotilla’s participants”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the activists “do not represent a danger or a threat to Israel” and hoped that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would also not represent a threat to this flotilla.
“We are sailing effortlessly by Israeli threats and tactics for threats,” said the flotilla, who also carries Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela and Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European MP.
Spain’s digital transformation minister, Oscar Lopez, had called on the flotilla not to cross into Israel’s declared exclusion zone and extended 150 miles from Gaza.
“Our message to the flotilla has been clear: Don’t enter that zone,” he told Spanish public TV, adding that Spain’s naval variety would not cross into the exclusion area.
Israel blocked similar trials in June and July.
