Remote-controlled vehicles loaded with explosives being sent to Gaza
Gaza
Israel on Friday deported four Italian activists, the first of hundreds detained from an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, shortly after the interception of a final boat brought an end to its mission.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold.
Earlier, Israeli forces intercepted and seized the Global Sumud Flotilla’s last remaining vessel, the Marinette, on Friday morning. Organizers said the Marinette was about 80 nautical miles from Gaza on Thursday night, and about 10 nautical miles from where Israel began intercepting other boats in the flotilla.
Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats showed armed Israeli soldiers in helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled in life vests with their hands up after its military intercepted almost all 40 boats in the flotilla carrying aid to Gaza.
More than 450 foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg were detained. A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Thunberg sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
Thousands of supporters of the flotilla held mass demonstrations in multiple cities across the globe. Demonstrators took to the streets in cities across Europe as well as in Karachi, Buenos Aires and Mexico City to protest Israel’s capturing of the activists. Italian unions have also called for a general strike on Friday.
Thunberg, 22, best known for her environmental protests, had pre-recorded a video that was released on her behalf after her ship was boarded.
“If you are watching this video, I have been abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces,” she said. “Our humanitarian mission was non-violent and abiding by international law.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he expected the members of the flotilla to be expelled from Israel on Monday and Tuesday and sent to European capitals on charter flights.
The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement it was taking all the people it had captured from the flotilla ashore at Ashdod, and that all were “safe and in good health”.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticised Israeli aggression, saying it showed Israel’s government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.
“I condemn the thuggery directed at the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set out to draw attention to the barbarity of children dying of hunger in Gaza and to deliver humanitarian aid to the oppressed Palestinians,” he said in a speech to officials from his AK Party in the capital Ankara.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged Israel to immediately release South Africans who were on the flotilla, including former President Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela.
The activists were expected to be transferred to the immigration authority upon arrival in Ashdod, from where they will be moved to Ketziot Prison in southern Israel before they are deported, said Suhad Bishara, the director at Adalah, a human rights organisation and legal centre in Israel.
