The Israeli military on Wednesday morning intercepted ‘Conscience’ along with eight other flotilla vessels carrying mostly professionals and activists, including acclaimed Bangladeshi photographer and rights activist Shahidul Alam, as they tried to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
All those on board the Conscience and other vessels in the aid convoy were also detained by the Israeli defence forces on their way to the Palestinian territory.  Â
‘If you are seeing this video, we have been intercepted at sea and I have been kidnapped by the Occupation Forces of Israel, the country conducting genocide in Gaza with active collaboration and assistance of the USA and other western powers,’ said Shahidul, lone Bangladeshi in the mission, in a Facebook video post shared at about 11am.Â
He appealed to all his comrades and friends to continue fighting for the freedom of Palestine.
Several Bangladeshi political and rights organisations in separate statements on Wednesday condemned the Israeli attacks on the mission to Gaza and demanded release of all those detained by the Israeli forces.
Shahidul Alam, also managing director of Drik, on Tuesday said that they were just 70 nautical miles from the ‘red zone’ on their way to Gaza and fearing arrest by the Israel defence forces when they would enter the area.
The Global Sumud Flotilla first reported that three of its vessels had been ‘attacked and illegally intercepted by the Israeli military’ in the early morning, 220 kilometres off the coast of Gaza, the Agence France-Presse reported from Jerusalem.
It later said all nine of the flotilla’s vessels had been intercepted, including the Conscience, adding it was carrying more than 90 journalists, doctors and activists, according to the AFP report.
Israel has blocked several international aid flotillas in recent months from reaching Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in after two years of devastating conflict.
According to the AFP report, as the war drags on, solidarity with the Palestinians has grown globally, with activists, protesters across the world and increasingly governments condemning Israel for its conduct.
Israel, however, claimed on Wednesday it had intercepted boats entering waters it says fall under its blockade of Gaza, according to the AFP report.
‘Another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing. The vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port,’ its foreign ministry said on social media.
‘The passengers are expected to be deported promptly,’ the AFP reported quoting the Israeli foreign ministry.
Drik in a statement issued in Dhaka demanded release of all the journalists, medics and rights activists detained by the Israel defence forces.
It termed the interception and detention of journalists, medics and rights activists by the IDF illegal, citing the ground that all the Freedom Flotilla vessels were in the international waters and beyond the jurisdiction of Israeli authorities.
The Conscience along with eight Freedom Flotilla vessels came under attacks by the Israeli military helicopter before it was intercepted by the Israeli navy, it said, adding that boats of the Thousands Madneens were also intercepted.
Earlier, between October 1 and 3, Israeli naval forces intercepted 42 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which were carrying humanitarian aid. Over 462 activists on board were detained as they attempted to break Israel’s siege of Gaza.
A press release from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, issued on September 30, said that Conscience set sail following the departure of ten boats on September 25 and September 27, organised jointly by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens.
Shahidul on Sunday expressed fear that they might be arrested and then would either be deported or imprisoned as had happened to those on the Global Sumud Flotilla that was in front of them carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
On Saturday, he wrote in a Facebook post that Conscience, the largest vessel participating in the mission, was the last to set off. It departed on September 30, 2025, from Otranto of Italy, while eight other boats had left shortly before, he said.
Following the Israeli interception and detention of flotilla activists, thousands of people in Bangladesh and many other countries took to the streets in protest.
Israeli authorities are deporting the detained activists.
Political parties and rights bodies including Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Ganosamhati Andolan and Naripokkho on Wednesday demanded immediate release of right activists and journalists, including renowned Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam.
The BNP media cell in a statement said that BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged the government to take immediate action for the safe return of Shahidul Alam.
Leaders of Ganosamhati Andolan on Wednesday at a protest rally in Dhaka also demanded release of all those detained by the Israeli forces and urged the interim government for measures to free Shahidul Alam.
