The eastern Mediterranean has once again become a stage for confrontation. In recent days the Israeli navy has intercepted an international aid flotilla bound for Gaza, employing water cannons and boarding vessels before detaining activists. By October 2nd, Israeli forces had seized control of 13 boats and arrested more than 170 people.

The lead vessel, still pressing ahead despite the crackdown, was reported to be some 88km off Gaza’s shoreline. The intervention sparked immediate demonstrations across Europe, North Africa and Latin America. Protesters thronged the streets of Rome, Naples, Paris, Tunis and Istanbul, as well as cities as far afield as Buenos Aires and Bogotá.

Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, went further than most. In a defiant post on X, he announced the expulsion of Israel’s diplomatic mission and declared the country’s trade accord with Israel void. His outrage followed the detention of two Colombian citizens on board. He branded the arrests a “new international crime” by Binyamin Netanyahu and urged foreign governments to seek legal redress.

In Italy the disruption threatens to deepen. CGIL, the country’s largest trade union, with some 5m members, has called for a nationwide strike in solidarity with the flotilla. That announcement, rare in its direct targeting of foreign policy, underscores the resonance of the Gaza issue in European politics.

The flotilla itself, some 45 vessels of varying size, departed from Spain last month with the declared aim of breaking the blockade on Gaza. Its roster of passengers includes prominent activists and politicians: Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate campaigner, and Mandla Mandela, grandson of South Africa’s liberation icon. Organisers say neither Spanish nor Italian ships were in the immediate area when Israel moved in; one Spanish craft kept a distance of at least 12 nautical miles, while a Turkish boat limited itself to unloading supplies.

For Israel, the episode will be framed as a matter of security and sovereignty. For the activists, it is a bid to challenge a blockade that has long been denounced by humanitarian agencies. Either way, the Sumud flotilla has once again shifted Gaza from the realm of diplomatic abstraction into the arena of global protest.