Israeli authorities seek to confiscate boats used in Gaza activist flotilla, claiming Hamas funding ties

Authorities are attempting to confiscate 50 boats used by activists in Gaza-bound flotillas aimed at breaking Israel’s naval blockade on the enclave, claiming Hamas helped fund and coordinate the attempts.

In a request filed today in the Haifa District Court, the State Attorney’s Office alleges a “significant number of the vessels” used in the flotillas are owned by a front company for the terror group.

According to the request, 16 of the vessels were owned by the company Neptune Cyber, which allegedly operates under a Hamas-aligned NGO called the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA).

The State Attorney’s Office has still not managed to identify the owners of all the ships subject to the request.

Prosecutors argue that Israel is authorized to take possession of the ships under international law, which provides for sovereign states to intercept and potentially impound vessels that attempt to breach a naval blockade.

The effort “was unprecedented in scale and scope, with organized planning and centralized command, all aimed at challenging the navy and breaking the naval blockade,” prosecutors write. They add that the ships’ movement “resembled the maneuvers of military ships sailing in formation.”

Hundreds of activists arrived in two waves in early October this year. The navy intercepted both flotillas, the first consisting of 41 separate ships, the second consisting of just nine, prosecutors say. Israel detained the activists before deporting them.