This still image came from a video posted on Jasmine Ikeda’s Instagram page. Ikeda is among hundreds of activists who have been detailed by Israeli forces for trying to break a blockade on bringing humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Courtesy photo

A woman from Hawaii is among the roughly 450 international activists who were detained by the Israeli military after they tried to break through Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

The Associated Press reports that hundreds of Israeli police officers were deployed to the southern port of Ashdod on Thursday to process the detainees after the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian supplies was intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea.

In addition to some European lawmakers and the well-known activist Greta Thunberg, those taken into Israeli custody include Jasmine Ikeda, who was born in Hawaii and raised on Kauai. Earlier this year, Ikeda was on Maui teaching young women how to sail.

On Ikeda’s Instagram page, multiple videos show her as Israeli naval ships approach the flotilla. In the videos, Ikeda calmly speaks to the camera as she asks for people to support the flotilla’s mission.

“We are preparing for interception, which means they will be illegally boarding our boat in international waters,” Ikeda said in one of the videos. “And so, please put pressure on the government to bring us home safely and to stop the genocide for Palestine. This is devastating. Please, as much as this flotilla is important, remain clear this is all for Gaza and the real crime here is that humanitarian aid will not be received by them.”

Supporters of Ikeda, including those with the local group Maui for Palestine, are demanding Ikeda’s immediate and safe release.

Maui for Palestine is a local grassroots group that has organized rallies and speakers as well as raising funds and awareness for the Palestinians. The group, which formed in November 2023, has been closely following news of the flotilla.

“Here we are almost two years into this genocide and we’re still doing everything that we can, and we just want to show our aloha and support for Jas because she’s basically risking her life,” said Laila Popata, founder of Maui for Palestine. “Those flotillas have been attacked in the past — 10 Turkish civilians were killed during a flotilla mission before — so she’s definitely risking her life by going on this flotilla.”

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Popata said she believes most people in Hawaii do not support the war in Gaza, and she referenced resolutions and statements issued by Hawaii lawmakers condemning the large number of civilian deaths as examples.

“We are standing with her and we want awareness brought to what the mission of the flotilla was, which was to end the genocide and the starvation of the people of Gaza because it’s collective punishment — it’s war crimes,” Popata said.

The Global Sumud Flotilla was the largest yet to try to break the blockade, and it comes at a time of growing criticism of Israel, whose offensive since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, has killed more than 66,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and whose figures are viewed by experts as the most reliable estimate, has said women and children make up around half the dead.

Activists have said they hoped that the sheer number of boats in the flotilla would make it more difficult for Israeli authorities to intercept them all — but Israel’s Foreign Ministry declared the operation over Thursday afternoon.

Activists stand in front of one of the Gaza-bound civilian flotilla Sumud’s boats as it is docked at the port in Larnaca, Cyprus, on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. AP Photo/Petros Karadjias

According to Maui for Palestine, Ikeda is a respected member of the Hawaiian voyaging community, known for her dedication to traditional navigation and maritime education.

Ikeda also served as a crew member on a voyage to bring the double-mast canoe Nahiku from Washington state to Maui.

During the journey, Ikeda sailed alongside Grandmaster Navigator Sesario Sewralur and Captain ‘Aunofo Havea of the Tonga Voyaging Society, using traditional navigation methods to train young women in maritime skills and ocean stewardship.

Support for the detained activists is coming from Maui and across the world.

Thousands of people supporting the flotilla took to the streets in several major cities after news of the interception broke to decry the Israeli operation and the ongoing offensive in Gaza. Italy’s largest union called for a one-day general strike, and clashes erupted between police and pro-Palestinian protestors in Paris and in Barcelona. Turkey, Colombia, Pakistan and others have also condemned Israel’s interception of the flotilla.

The flotilla, which started out with more than 40 boats and some 450 activists, was carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Its main goal, they said, remained “to break Israel’s illegal siege and end the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”

Flotilla organizers said at least 41 of their boats were intercepted in the nightlong Israeli operation. Israeli authorities later said only one boat remained “at a distance” and would be intercepted if it approached.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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