The Italian Navy will stop monitoring the international Global Sumud Flotilla that is attempting to deliver aid to Gaza Strip once it comes within 150 nautical miles of the coast of the Palestinian enclave, the Italian Defense Ministry said today.

The flotilla of the Global Sumud mission, consisting of more than around 40 civilian vessels carrying parliamentarians, lawyers and activists, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, aims to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

Once the convoy reaches the 150-nautical-mile limit, the Italian frigate escorting it will stop, “as announced numerous times in recent days,” the Italian ministry said in a statement.

Within striking distance of Gaza

The frigate will issue two warnings to the activists, with the second and final one expected to be given around 03:00am Wednesday (GMT), when the flotilla is expected to approach the designated distance, the ministry added.

Earlier today, an Italian spokeswoman for the flotilla, Maria Elena Delia, said the activists had been informed of the Italian government’s plans to stop the warship and turn back to avoid “a diplomatic incident” with Israel. He said the flotilla had no intention of heeding Italy’s warnings not to approach the coast.

Italy and Spain deployed warships last week to assist the flotilla after it was hit by drones armed with flash-bang grenades in international waters off Greece, but with no intention of getting involved militarily.

Delia also stressed that activists are preparing for another strike in the next few hours. “Israel will probably attack us tonight because all indications are that this will happen,” she said in a video posted on Instagram.

Israel has not responded to the flotilla’s accusations that it was behind last week’s attacks, but has pledged to use every means to prevent the boats from reaching Gaza, arguing that the blockade of the Palestinian enclave is legal as part of its war against Hamas.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crozeto said he expected the flotilla’s boats to be intercepted on the high seas and the activists arrested. Today, Croseto made a “last appeal” to members of the flotilla to accept a compromise proposal to hand in aid to Cyprus for distribution to Gaza and avoid a confrontation with Israeli forces.

Representatives of the flotilla have repeatedly rejected that offer.

Israeli Foreign Ministry: Flotilla is linked to Hamas, accuses activist of links to Hezbollah

At the same time, the Israeli foreign ministry has taken sharp swipes at the Global Sumud Flotilla, accusing the flotilla of being associated with Hamas, but also with Hezbollah.

In posts on X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted some documents, which it claims are official documents and that they are being revealed for the first time, “proving the direct involvement of Hamas in the financing and execution of the Sumud flotilla mission in Gaza.”

“The Hamas documents discovered in the Gaza Strip, revealed for the first time, prove the direct link between the leaders of the flotilla and the Hamas terrorist organization,” the ministry said in its post, while claiming that the PCPA (Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad), which was established in 2018 , acts as a representative body of Hamas abroad.

In a more recent post, the Israeli Foreign Ministry also accused activist, Tiago Avila, of alleged links to Hezbollah of Lebanon.

“The organizer of the Hamas Flotilla is Hezbollah admirer Tiago Avila. Hamas’ Flotilla has rejected all offers of compromise, including that of the Pope. This is not about aid, they are not interested in civilians. This is about provocation. The rest of us are trying to converge on President Trump’s proposal to end the conflict,” he said in the post.