Remote-controlled vehicles loaded with explosives being sent to Gaza
\n Gaza
\nIsrael 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.
\nThe 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.
\nEarlier, Israeli forces intercepted and seized the Global Sumud Flotilla\u2019s 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.
\nCameras 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.
\nMore 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.
\nThousands 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\u2019s capturing of the activists. Italian unions have also called for a general strike on Friday.
\nThunberg, 22, best known for her environmental protests, had pre-recorded a video that was released on her behalf after her ship was boarded.
\n\u201cIf you are watching this video, I have been abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces,\u201d she said. \u201cOur humanitarian mission was non-violent and abiding by international law.\u201d
\nItalian 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.
\nThe 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 \u201csafe and in good health\u201d.
\nTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticised Israeli aggression, saying it showed Israel\u2019s government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.
\n\u201cI 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,\u201d he said in a speech to officials from his AK Party in the capital Ankara.
\nThe Istanbul chief prosecutor\u2019s office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels, Turkey\u2019s 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\u2019s grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela.
\nThe 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-506595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n