Disinformation spreads as Israeli forces intercept Global Sumud Flotilla at sea
AI-generated images and out of context videos spread online as Global Sumud Flotilla activists attempted to break Israel's naval blockade on Gaza
CLAIM: Videos and images purported to show the Global Sumud Flotilla as it approached Gaza
BACKGROUND: The Global Sumud Flotilla was approaching Gaza late last week, before it was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters some 70 nautical miles from the enclave. The activists on board were detained and brought to Israel for processing.
METHOD: Visual analysis, AI generator logos and other research revealed the origin of the videos.
RATING: Much of the content was AI-generated, while some content was real but old and misrepresented.
On Thursday, October 2, hundreds of activists on board of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) — a group of about 40 civilian boats carrying aid and seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza — were intercepted and detained by Israeli forces.
The boats, which departed from Barcelona on August 31, were blocked after they reached a distance of approximately 70 nautical miles from Gaza, an area outside of the Israeli jurisdiction, BBC reported.
On the morning of Friday, October 3, the GSF wrote on its official Instagram profile that Marinette, the last boat, was intercepted at 10:29 local time. “Over 38 hours, Israeli occupation naval forces illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels—each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza,” the post read.
While the world watched the boats being intercepted one by one through a live feed, false and misleading claims about the events involving the flotilla circulated among social media users.
Mikeno never arrived in Gaza
Throughout Thursday, the GSF lost contact with one of its boats, the Mikeno. Its tracking system suggested that it may have arrived in Gaza’s territorial waters, while Israeli authorities said that none of the boats entered the blockaded area.
In the early hours of October 3, the Brazilian branch of the flotilla posted a statement on its Instagram profile, confirming that the Mikeno was also among the intercepted boats. “After long hours of distress and no contact, we have now received confirmation that the sailboat Mikeno was also intercepted in international waters while trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the post read.
Amid the uncertainty around the boat’s location, social media users started sharing videos purportedly showing the Mikeno arriving in Gaza, welcomed by a large crowd.
On Thursday, the TikTok account @onestatepalestine shared a video (archived here) with the caption “The boat Mikeno has arrived on the shores of Gaza breaking the siege! It managed to making it by switching its location on and off, evading capture for hours.”
The video garnered over 313,000 views in less than 24 hours, and it spread on X (archived here) and YouTube (archived here).
However, the same video had already circulated on X and YouTube starting on September 10, as reported by fact-checker Open.online and confirmed by a Google reverse image search. According to the earlier captions of the video, and as suggested by the numerous Tunisian flags that appear in the the footage, it appears to have been shot when the flotilla arrived on the Tunisian coast earlier in September.
Another video circulated on Facebook (archived here) purportedly showed the arrival of the Mikeno in Gaza, welcomed by a celebrating crowed. Similar to the previous video, the footage had already been circulating since September 10, when it was shot in the harbour of Sidi Bou Said, in Tunisia.
AI images and clips
While the flotilla was approaching the coast of Gaza, social media users also spread AI images and clips, purportedly picturing the boats sailing towards destination.
For example, X and Reddit users shared a picture (archived here and here) showing the the boats covered in Palestinian flags.
However, the image was AI-generated, as confirmed by the Gemini logo at the bottom right corner of the picture. Comparing the picture with other available images of the flotilla boats, the AI-generated one visibly features different colours and details.
On October 2, a TikTok account, @info_drop_ , labeled by the platform as an AI-generated creator, published a video (archived here) with the caption “Putin Sends Strong Message to Israel: Release the Humanitarian Flotilla Without Delay!”,. The clip purportedly showed Russian president Vladimir Putin releasing a statement in English in support of the Flotilla and was watched over 282,000 times.
There is no record of such statement from Putin, and an analysis of the first few seconds of the clip shows that the movement of his lips does not match with the voice. Furthermore, the audio has Putin speaking English, which he can reportedly speak but rarely uses in public, preferring to rely on interpreters. The rest of the footage shows several other AI-generated pictures of the flotilla.
Flotilla a repeated target of disinformation
While the flotilla’s interception by Israeli forces sparked a new wave of disinformation, it was not the first time that false narratives on the GSF circulated online.
In the days leading up to the boats’ approach to Gaza, AI generated videos claiming to feature the Flotilla circulated online (archived here and here), as well as misleading videos taken out of context.
For example, a video circulated on X (archived here) purportedly showing the boat convoy was in fact shot in May 2025, during the celebrations for the Turkish football team Galatasaray, as reported by Italian fact-checker Facta.news.
SOURCES
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