Israeli Has Kidnapped Six Australians Sailing on the Global Sumud Flotilla

Israel has illegally apprehended six Australians, climate activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela, and hundreds of other foreign nationals, in international waters off the coast of Gaza, and in response civilians have held no-holds-barred protests globally, with those on Gadigal land in Sydney spilling unauthorised out onto city streets much to the chagrin of NSW police.

Australian filmmaker Juliet Lamont told the AFR mid-afternoon Sydney time on Thursday 3 October 2025 that twelve Israeli ships were approaching the Global Sumud Flotilla, of which she was one of 500-odd participants sitting in one of 40-odd boats involved, and she added that she was terrified, as circulating rumours suggested Israel was preparing for casualties and to imprison participants.

By Friday morning, all Australians were in Israeli custody. This is the third time this year that Israel has seized the crew of a flotilla bound Gaza: the site of a two-year-long genocide perpetrated by Israel. Tel Aviv has also illegally attacked around a dozen nations of late. And it murdered nine participants in a 2010 flotilla voyage that then also attempted to break the Israeli siege on Gaza.

The Global Sumud Flotilla website noted that 484 flotilla participants had been imprisoned by Israel, while six boats were still at sea at midday on Friday. Past Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) attempts in June and July 2025 involved small crews being kidnapped by Israel and then slowly released one-by-one, but Lamont suggested they might impose long prison sentences upon current participants.

And while local civil society flooded the city streets to congregate outside of the Sydney offices of the Australian Labor Party on Sussex Street in the CBD on Thursday evening, top government ministers, like the PM and foreign minister, had failed to comment on the interception of Australians at sea by the rogue nation of Israel, and they’d left it up to the assistant foreign minister to express concern.

Australians captured… so what?

Along with Lamont, Australians Surya McEwen, Abubakir Rafiq, Hamish Paterson, Bianca Webb-Pullman and Cameron Tribe have been illegally imprisoned by the state of Israel, as Tel Aviv does not have the authority under international law to simply sweep in and apprehend foreign nationals in an international zone. Although Israel is a nation that has long failed to comply with global laws.

Right now, there is a famine Gaza, which is the site of an ongoing extermination program being perpetrated by Israel. Tel Aviv first imposed a goods blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007. So, Israel has blocked Gaza for 18 years, and the nation went on to intensify this in October 2023. And after a short hiatus in January this year, the heightened blockade was reinstated in March.

After Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, Tel Aviv has openly perpetrated a genocide upon the over 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the official death toll is over 66,000 Gazans. However, according to a recent study, the mass killing has more likely seen somewhere around 680,000 people murdered.

FFC flotillas have been attempting to break the blockade of Gaza since 2010. The Israeli military attacked six boats bound for the Gaza Strip that same year, with troops boarding ships in a similar manner to which they did on Thursday this week. Yet back in 2010, the Israeli military actually shot and killed nine foreign nationals immediately and a tenth then died in a coma later on.

The grave fear for all the foreign nationals, including the six Australians, taken into custody on Thursday, is that the Israeli state does not abide by international law and it may torture or continue to illegally imprison these innocent people. The understanding is that foreign nations, like Australia, won’t kick up too much of a stink either, because it’s tacitly understood that Israel gets a free pass.

The death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankom, who was targeted by the Israeli military alongside six others World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza in April 2024, is a case in point, as while foreign minister Penny Wong labelled the killing “outrageous and unacceptable”, instead of any broad action taken against the Netanyahu government, she produced a global declaration on aid worker safety.

Block everything

Students for Palestine held a Free the Flotilla snap protest on Gadigal land at Sydney Town Hall at 5.30 pm on 2 October. Thousands turned out to call on Labor to adequately address the actions of Israel, which, at that moment, was attacking flotilla boats with water cannons, intercepting them in international zones, boarding them, and forcibly removing and taking into custody those onboard.

Greens Senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi was amongst various speakers at the snap rally, which, in line with other urban centres across the planet, erupted into a spontaneous protest, which involved thousands spilling out onto city streets, in a manner that NSW authorities have been trying to stamp out for years with their ever-increasing antiprotest laws, and scuffles with NSW police ensued.

The spontaneous outpouring of civil society support for the flotilla was part of broader “block everything” protests occurring in capitals around the globe. Some of the demonstrations in foreign capitals involved much lawbreaking. And Italy has seen massive protests and strikes in response to Gaza over recent days, with Palestine Action Group Sydney spokesperson Josh Lees participating.

Scenes of mass protests in support of the flotilla and further, Palestine itself, taking place in Sydney, Naarm-Melbourne, Rome, Buenos Aires, Tunis, Athens, Istanbul, London, Dublin, Paris, Geneva, Berlin and many other urban centres had the sense that whilst they marked a rise in mobilisation tactics, it is likely these unbridled civil society protests are set to grow if the genocide continues.

Netanyahu can have the Australians

As of Friday afternoon, both prime minister Anthony Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong had said nothing about Israel having kidnapped six of their fellow countrypeople. And while the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has released a statement, it would seem as far as MPs go, it’s the Australian Greens making the most commotion about the kidnapped Australians.

DFAT said on Thursday afternoon that it is liaising with Israeli authorities, and it is on standby to assist the Australians now being detained by the rogue nation. The department advised that all parties should abide by international law, that the people on board the ships had wanted to deliver aid to Gaza, and DFAT would like to see the aid delivered too.

The ‘real Albanese’, UN special rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese has stated that the Israeli intervention highlights the fact that the international community lets Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu get away with anything. Albanese further condemned western nations that looked on during the interception of the boats, deeming their inaction complicity.

But the real Albanese is right, as our PM and foreign minister would not put up with any other nation besides Israel kidnapping six Australians and say nothing about it.

Even if the US arrested six Australians on the high seas, prime minister Albanese would speak up. And in similar way in which our top ministers couldn’t properly address the Frankcom murder, they’re currently powerless to act in respect of the six kidnapped Australians.

Join the campaign and send an email to prime minister Anthony Albanese, foreign minister Penny Wong and the local Israeli Embassy, calling on them to step up and intervene in the kidnapping of six Australians and all Global Sumud Flotilla crew members by Israel to see them released