Organizers of the Gaza flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces on Monday said on Tuesday that at least five of their boats had been “pressurized” by fire fired by the intervening soldiers.
In two videos posted on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) Telegram channel on Tuesday that appear to show the same incident, activists on a ship called the Girolama can be heard shouting “Don’t shoot” while metallic pings can be heard.
One of the group up
“Shots were very clearly fired at the Girolama boat,” the GSF wrote along with two other videos posted on its Telegram page. The group said four other boats named Munki, Elengi, Alcione and Zefiro were also fired upon.
Neither the Israeli military nor the State Department immediately responded to CBS News’ request for comment on the GSF’s claims, and it was not clear from the video whether Israeli forces had used live ammunition.
A video posted by the group shows an Israeli soldier appearing to fire a weapon, but it is not clear what type of cartridges were used.
Of the original 70 ships that left Turkey as part of the flotilla, only five were still en route to the Palestinian enclave as of Tuesday, after apparently evading Israeli interception, according to a tracker on the GSF website.
Gaza has been under an Israeli naval blockade since 2007.
Israeli forces have prevented several previous GSF flotillas from reaching Gaza’s coast and arrested and deported more than 470 people. including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
GSF said Tuesday that to its knowledge “no one was seriously injured.”
