Israeli warships surround Gaza aid flotilla
The boats are 81 nautical miles from Gaza
Activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla said Israeli warships surrounded several of its boats on Wednesday evening and that the interception of the main vessels was under way.
"The warships are moving in to intercept the flotilla -- only 81 nautical miles remain to Gaza," said the Maghreb contingent of the Global Sumud Flotilla in a statement.
French politician Marie Mesmeur and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan also reported that their boats were being intercepted.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot posted on X that Israeli authorities were "currently boarding" the flotilla.
Earlier on Wednesday the Israeli navy said it had warned the flotilla to change course as the vessels approached waters under an Israeli blockade.
"The Israeli Navy has reached out to the... flotilla and asked them to change course," the Israeli Defence Ministry said in a statement.
"Israel has informed the flotilla that it is approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful naval blockade."
The flotilla organisers had said however that they would stay the course despite "intimidation tactics" by the Israeli military.
The Global Sumud Flotilla -- around 45 vessels carrying activists and politicians including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg -- left Spain last month aiming to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory, where the UN says famine has set in.
"In the early hours of this morning, Israeli occupation naval forces launched an intimidatory operation against the Global Sumud Flotilla," the organisers said as the vessels approached waters off Egypt, where Israel has intercepted previous attempts.
Spain and Italy, which both sent naval escorts, urged the ships to halt before entering Israel's declared exclusion zone off Gaza.
After a 10-day stop in Tunisia, where organisers reported two drone attacks, the flotilla resumed its journey on September 15.
"We sail on undeterred by Israeli threats and tactics of intimidation," said the flotilla, which is also carrying Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela and Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European Parliament member.