Two Massachusetts men aboard a flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza have been arrested by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to flotilla organizers.
Adnaan and Torleif Stumo, from Sheffield, both sailed on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a coalition of volunteers traveling across the Mediterranean Sea to provide food and aid for the people of Gaza. Torleif’s boat, “Huga,” was intercepted by Israeli forces Wednesday night, and Adnaan’s boat, “Mikeno,” was intercepted Thursday.
“After Israeli occupation naval forces illegally intercepted vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla — a peaceful, non-violent convoy carrying food, baby formula, medicine, and volunteers from 47 countries to Gaza — hundreds of participants have been abducted and reportedly taken aboard the large naval vessel, the MSC Johannesburg,” flotilla officials said Thursday in a press release. “This was after they were assaulted with water cannons, doused with skunk water, and had their communications systematically jammed in yet more acts of aggression against unarmed civilians.”
What happened to Adnaan and Torleif Stumo?
As of Thursday night, all but one of the vessels have been intercepted, according to the flotilla’s online tracker. The remaining boat, “Marinette,” is continuing to sail towards Gaza despite warnings from the Israel Foreign Ministry to turn back.
“Mikeno,” of which Adnaan was the captain, was the only boat out of the 44 vessels in the fleet to breach an Israeli blockade and make it into Gazan territorial waters, a flotilla spokesperson told Boston.com. “Mikeno” was estimated to be within nine nautical miles of Gaza when it was intercepted by Israeli forces.
Footage posted to the flotilla’s Instagram account shows crew members on “Mikeno” being blasted with water as they sail towards Gaza. The post includes messages from everyone on the “Mikeno” confirming their arrests; similar posts have been made for each intercepted ship.
“On Oct 2, 2025 Israeli naval forces illegally intercepted and boarded the Global Sumud Flotilla’s vessel, Mikeno, along with other boats in international waters,” flotilla organizers said in the post. “Live-streams and communications have been cut. The status of participants and crew remains unconfirmed.”
Adnaan also posted his emergency message to his personal Instagram account, calling the humanitarian mission “non-violent and fully legal.”
“The occupation forces are currently intercepting us in international waters,” Adnaan said in the post. “This is a war crime under International Humanitarian Law, and constitutes piracy under Maritime Law.”
How have Israeli officials responded to the flotilla?
The Israel Foreign Ministry has condemned the flotilla and repeatedly referred to it on social media as the “Hamas-Sumud provocation.” The ministry released photos of the arrested flotilla members Thursday in a post on X.
“Hamas-Sumud passengers on their yachts are making their way safely and peacefully to Israel, where their deportation procedures to Europe will begin,” the ministry said in the post. “The passengers are safe and in good health.”
The ministry further alleged that there was never any humanitarian aid on the flotilla to begin with, posting a video on X of an Israeli police officer appearing to investigate a vessel and claiming there was no aid to be found.
“Like we said, it was never about the aid,” the ministry said in the post. “It was always about the provocation.”
Israeli police have also claimed that any found humanitarian aid “will be delivered to Gaza through the proper channels” and asserted that the flotilla’s purpose was to “grow their social media following.”
“On Yom Kippur, hundreds of Israel Police officers operated at the Port of Ashdod as part of the response to the provocative flotilla,” police said in a post on X. “Over 250 participants have so far been received from the IDF, screened, and safely transferred for further processing and deportation.”
Where are the flotilla volunteers now? What comes next?
The flotilla estimated that 443 volunteers have been arrested by the IDF and taken to Ashdod, an Israeli port city, the group said in a press release. Attorneys with Adalah, a law center that advocates for “Arab minority rights in Israel,” are representing the volunteers before Israeli authorities. They said they have been given “minimal updates” about their processing and detention.
“Following the illegal interception of dozens of ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla last night and earlier today, Adalah has received phone calls from participants reporting that immigration authorities have already begun conducting hearings on their deportation and detention orders, in the Ashdod port,” Adalah lawyers said on Instagram. “These proceedings were initiated without prior notice to their lawyers and while denying participants access to legal counsel.”
Adalah lawyers were not granted entry into the port until later on Thursday, a flotilla spokesperson told Boston.com. Lawyers also told the spokesperson that medical checks were conducted and that the flotilla members appeared to be in good health.
However, an unconfirmed report from Adalah lawyers stated that the volunteers will not be held in Ashdod but instead taken to Ketziot prison. The prison, located in the Negev desert, has become infamous after reports of abuse of prisoners through beatings, poor conditions, neglect, and sexual assault.
Ketziot was included in a 2024 report by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem documenting widespread reports of abuse of Palestinians at Israeli prisons. Israeli officials have reportedly told family members of flotilla volunteers that they are being moved to Ketziot because “there are so many of them and they need to keep them together,” according to an Instagram post from Novara Media, an independent media outlet from the United Kingdom.
When will the Stumo brothers be brought home?
The detained volunteers are not expected to be officially processed until Sunday due to the Yom Kippur holiday, Adalah lawyers said. Detainees from the United States are likely to be sent home through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, a flotilla spokesperson told Boston.com.
The Stumo brothers, however, won’t be among those detainees, as only those who sign self-deportation orders will be released, according to the flotilla spokesperson. Adnaan and Torleif have both declined to do so, and as such, they are expected to be imprisoned indefinitely.
Nadia Milleron, the brothers’ mother, told Boston.com that her sons will be hunger striking while they are detained and that many of their fellow volunteers will join them.
“Everyone who is physically able has committed to doing that,” Milleron said.
For the volunteers, hunger striking is a symbolic act, Milleron said. As long as famine continues in Gaza, the flotilla members will refuse to be fed by the Israeli government.
“We all think it couldn’t possibly get worse, but it keeps getting worse,” Milleron said.
For now, Milleron said she has remained in contact with various embassies and representatives, desperately trying to rally support for her sons and their fellow volunteers. Senators Ed Markey’s and Elizabeth Warren’s offices have both promised to advocate with the Massachusetts Department of State, and Rep. Richard Neal’s office has also agreed to take action, Milleron said.
Flotilla organizers have asserted that its members will continue efforts to get humanitarian aid to Gaza. Already, nine ships from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, another volunteer group, have been launched with aid for the people of Gaza.
“Our commitment remains clear: to break Israel’s illegal siege and end the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people,” Global Sumud Flotilla organizers said in a press release. “Every act of repression against our flotilla, every escalation of violence in Gaza, and every attempt to suppress solidarity actions only strengthen our resolve.”
Markey, Warren, Neal, state Sen. Paul Mark, and state Rep. Leigh Davis — all representatives for the Stumo brothers’ hometown of Sheffield — did not respond to requests for comment Thursday night.
The IDF did not respond to multiple requests for comment.