The Israeli navy intercepted a flotilla heading towards Gaza on Wednesday, as reported by activists who had been sharing updates through social media.

The flotilla, named the Global Sumud Flotilla, comprised approximately 50 boats and around 500 activists, including well-known environmental advocate Greta Thunberg. According to the flotilla’s press officer, Hasina Kathrada, nine of the vessels had been stopped by early Thursday local time.

In a statement, the flotilla’s press office claimed that before boarding the ships, Israeli naval forces seemingly damaged communication systems to block distress calls and interrupt live broadcasts of the boarding events. Communication and live coverage were lost with several other boats as well.

The flotilla has faced multiple challenges, such as explosions, drone harassment, and communication disruptions, which the activists believe were deliberate efforts to obstruct the flotilla’s progress.

The activists aimed to deliver a symbolic aid package and express a stance by challenging the Israeli naval blockade to reach the Gaza Strip.

American veteran Greg Stoker, who was on one of the boats, mentioned that they encountered roughly a dozen naval vessels with inactive transponders approaching them when they were still 70 to 80 nautical miles from Gaza’s coast.

“They are currently hailing our vessels, telling us to turn off our engines and await further instructions, or our boats will be seized and we will face the consequences,” Stoker, wearing a red life jacket, said in a shaky video posted on Instagram.

A video posted on a Telegram media account associated with the flotilla appears to show one of its ships being sprayed with water with an on-screen caption saying the vessel is being “water canoned.” Another post on the Telegram channel said one of the ships had “been deliberately rammed at sea.”

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X that the only purpose of the flotilla was “provocation.”

“Israel has informed the flotilla that it is approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful naval blockade. Israel reiterated the offer to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza,” the post said.

A separate X post by the foreign ministry shows a video of Thunberg pulling a white shirt over a black T-shirt and keffiyeh while she is seated next to a kneeling person in military garb.

The flotilla was intercepted as Israeli forces continue their devastating assault on Gaza City, where scores of people have been killed in recent days and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Deaths from starvation have also continued to rise, according to Palestinian health officials.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.

In the nearly two years since, Palestinian health officials say, more than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, while much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble.

The boats in the flotilla were sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday and had entered what activists and others called a “danger zone” or “high risk zone.” While it is still in international waters, it is an area where the Israeli navy has stopped other boats trying to break its blockade in the past and which the flotilla has been warned not to cross.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state has jurisdiction only up to 12 nautical miles from its shores. In general, states don’t have the right to seize ships in international waters, though armed conflict is an exception.

People whom the IDF detained from Gaza-bound flotillas this summer were detained only a few days, but this time could be different, said Miriam Azem, the international advocacy coordinator for alah, a human rights organization and legal center.

“We’ve seen a few threats by officials that this time around we might be looking at more prolonged detention. All of these threats are completely unsubstantiated, but we wouldn’t put anything past Israeli authorities in this regard,” Azem said in a phone interview.

Her group will most likely provide legal representation for many of the activists in the Sumud flotilla who could be detained.

“The scale of this, of this flotilla, which really challenges the blockade in a way that hasn’t challenged the blockade before, it makes it really hard to predict how authorities will respond, and we’re not even past the point of all interceptions are over,” Azem said. “It’s still very much unfolding as we speak.”