Most pro-Palestinian activists, who were detained by Israeli forces after their Gaza-bound flotilla was intercepted in international waters, have now been released in Greece. On Thursday, approximately 175 activists aboard 22 aid-carrying boats were seized near the island of Crete. The organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) condemned the action as ‘piracy,’ asserting that members were unlawfully seized more than 965km (600 miles) from Gaza, a territory under an illegal Israeli naval blockade. Israel’s foreign ministry, however, dismissed the flotilla as a ‘PR stunt.’<\/p>\n
All detained activists have disembarked in Crete, except for two men who, according to the Israeli government, are being taken to Israel ‘for questioning.’ The Israeli foreign ministry claimed that one of the men, Saif Abu Keshek, was ‘suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organization,’ and the other, Thiago \u00c1vila, was ‘suspected of illegal activity.’ Both men remain in Israeli custody, raising concerns about their legal status. The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) immediately called for the release of Abu Keshek and \u00c1vila. The group stated: ‘We demand that all governments do all they can to pressure the Israeli regime to release all the illegally abducted individuals.’ It confirmed that all other members of the captured flotilla boats had been released on the Greek island of Crete.<\/p>\n
Israel stated that approximately 175 people had been detained, while the GSF previously reported that ‘over 180 civilians from around the world have been directly attacked’ during the interception. Greek authorities had been preparing since the early hours of Friday morning to receive the individuals from the flotilla. The group, comprising men and women of various nationalities, including Greeks and Australians, was transported by naval vessel to the southern coast of Crete, expected to arrive at Atherinolakkos, where buses awaited to take them onward. According to sources who spoke to the BBC, their final destination is Heraklion, where they are expected to be temporarily accommodated before arrangements are made for their return to their home countries. On Thursday, the Greek foreign ministry announced it had offered ‘diplomatic assistance’ by agreeing to host the passengers and ensure their safe return home.<\/p>\n
The United States, however, backed Israel’s decision to intercept the boats, with State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott controversially calling the aid flotilla a ‘meaningless political stunt,’ despite its humanitarian objectives. The flotilla had set sail two weeks prior, with a total of 58 vessels joining from Spain, France, and Italy, explicitly aiming to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza. The remaining 36 boats were close to Crete’s southern coast on Friday. The GSF reported that Israeli naval forces had ‘intercepted, boarded, and systematically disabled and destroyed various boats’ in the flotilla during a ‘violent raid in international waters’ north-west of Crete on Thursday, an act widely condemned. After detaining participants, smashing an engine, and jamming communications, the Israeli forces retreated, with accusations of kidnapping participants or intentionally leaving civilians stranded on powerless, broken vessels directly in the path of a massive approaching storm.<\/p>\n
Israel, however, insists its actions comply with international law, a claim disputed by many international bodies. The Israeli foreign ministry asserted that ‘due to the large numbers of vessels participating in the flotilla and the risk of escalation, and the need to prevent the breach of a lawful blockade, an early action was required,’ a justification often challenged. It further claimed that ‘the operation was carried out in international waters peacefully and without any casualties,’ and that ‘an initial inspection of the vessels revealed materials that appear to be drugs and contraceptives,’ a narrative that has been met with skepticism. The ministry controversially accused the flotilla’s organizers of ‘joining hands’ with the Palestinian armed group Hamas ‘with the aim of sabotaging President Trump’s [Gaza] peace plan transition to its second phase and intended to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm,’ a claim widely seen as an attempt to delegitimize humanitarian efforts.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had demanded Israel immediately release ‘all the unlawfully detained Italians,’ underscoring international concern. Pedro S\u00e1nchez, Prime Minister of Spain, stated his government was doing ‘everything necessary to protect and assist the detained Spaniards,’ and directly accused Israel of ‘violating international law.’ Israel had similarly stopped the previous flotilla organized by the GSF from reaching Gaza last October, arresting and then deporting more than 470 people who were on board, including renowned Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. According to the GSF, the latest flotilla’s objectives are to ‘challenge Israel’s illegal blockade, advance the opening of a permanent humanitarian corridor, and intensify coordinated international pressure on governments and corporations complicit in its enforcement,’ highlighting the urgent need for humanitarian access.<\/p>\n
Cogat, the Israeli defense body that controls Gaza’s land crossings, claimed Israel was facilitating the entry of aid into Gaza and that there was ‘no limit on the amount of aid that can enter,’ a statement often contradicted by on-the-ground realities. Earlier this week, a senior UN official reported that Gaza’s 2.1 million people were ‘facing ongoing and deadly Israeli strikes and dire humanitarian conditions,’ despite ‘some improvements in access and aid delivery,’ emphasizing the severity of the crisis. ‘Food security remains a critical challenge, while essential services, particularly water, sanitation, and health, are again on the brink of collapse,’ UN Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khiari informed the Security Council. Last August, experts from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed the presence of famine in Gaza City. In December, they noted some improvements in nutrition and food supplies following a ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas in October as part of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. However, 100,000 people were still experiencing catastrophic conditions, a figure projected to decrease to 1,900 by mid-April, though the overall humanitarian situation remains precarious.<\/p>\n
The devastating Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 individuals being taken hostage. Israel responded with a brutal military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, during which, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 72,600 people have been killed, including 824 since the start of the ceasefire, highlighting the immense human cost.<\/p>\n
#GazaFlotilla #HumanitarianAid #IsraeliBlockade #InternationalWaters #FreePalestine #GazaCrisis #HumanRights #IllegalDetention #GlobalSumudFlotilla #StandWithGaza<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most pro-Palestinian activists, who were detained by Israeli forces after their Gaza-bound flotilla was intercepted in international waters, have now been released in Greece. On Thursday, approximately 175 activists aboard 22 aid-carrying boats were seized near the island of Crete. The organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) condemned the action as ‘piracy,’ asserting that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}