Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced today that it will deport to Europe all activists on board the Global Sumud flotilla ships that were heading towards the Gaza Strip and were intercepted by the Israeli navy.
“The passengers of the Hamas-Sumud on their yachts are safely and peacefully traveling to Israel, where the deportation procedure to Europe will begin. The passengers are safe and in good health,” the ministry announced on X.
The ship “Mikeno” arrives in Gaza territorial waters
According to the flotilla’s official tracker, the ship entered Gaza territorial waters, however, the tracking signal was lost with the ship when it was about 9.3 nautical miles from Gaza.
There is no clear information on whether the ship was attacked and towed, evaded Israeli forces, or there was a malfunction in the tracker.
Israeli naval forces have attacked an international aid flotilla sailing towards the besieged Gaza Strip and detained 223 activists on board, organizers said Thursday.
The Sumud Global Flotilla shared the names and nationalities of 223 activists on 15 of the ships it attacked on the US social media platform Instagram.
The activists on the ships attacked by Israel were of various nationalities, including Spaniards, Italians, Brazilians, Turks, Greeks, Americans, Germans, Swedes, Britons and French, among many others.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on the social media platform of the US-based company X that the detained activists were en route to the Israeli port of Ashdod, from where they will be deported to Europe.
All live streams from the flotilla’s ships have been shut down. The flotilla states on its website that 13 ships are still sailing, 10 are presumed to have been intercepted, while 21 ships have been confirmed to have been intercepted.
