More than 100 pro-Palestinian activists aboard aid ships bound for Gaza They were transferred to the Greek island of Crete on Friday after Israeli forces intercepted their boats in international waters. near Greece, flotilla organizers reported.
The activists were part of a second Global Sumud flotilla, launched in recent months with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade of Gazby sending humanitarian aid. The ships set sail from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12.
On Friday, an Israeli Army ship transferred 168 flotilla crew members to Greek vesselswho then took them to land, where buses and an ambulance were waiting for them, the organizers reported and showed Reuters images.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the flotilla organizers “professional provocateurs.”
The organizers stated that two activists remained in the custody of Israeli authorities.
He Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that 30 Spaniards had arrived in Crete, but that one Spanish citizen, Saif Abu Keshek, had been detained “illegally” and was being transferred to Israel.
“We demand his immediate releasea,” he stated.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry declared that Abu Keshek was suspected of belonging to a terrorist organization and that, along with a second activist suspected of illegal activities, he would be transferred to Israel for interrogation.
“Israel will not allow legal naval blockade on Gaza to be violated“said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Foreign Ministries of Germany and Italy issued a joint statement in which They stated that they were following the events with “deep concern”.
A source who asked not to be identified said that although Israel had intercepted 22 vessels, another 47 were still sailing off the southern coast of Crete and They planned to anchor there at some point before continuing toward Gaza. Each ship carries around a ton of foodmedical supplies and other equipment, according to the source.
The 22 vessels were intercepted by Israel late on Wednesday in international waters off the Greek Peloponnese peninsula.hundreds of kilometers from Gaza, according to the flotilla organizers.
In a statement issued Thursday, the The United States Department of State threatened to “impose consequences” on those who support the flotilla, which he described as pro-Hamas.
Pro-Palestinian activists say Israel and the United States are wrongly confusing their defense of Palestinian rights with support for Hamas extremists.
Last October, the Israeli Army stopped a previous flotilla organized by the same organization.n, arresting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and more than 450 participants. This followed other attempts to reach blockaded Gaza by sea.
Palestinians and international aid agencies say supplies to Gaza remain insufficient, despite a ceasefire reached in October. which included guarantees of increased aid.
Most of Gaza’s more than two million residents have been displaced, and Many now live in bombed-out houses and makeshift tents set up in open fields.on the sides of roads or on the ruins of destroyed buildings.
Israel, which controls all access to the Gaza Strip, denies that it is withholding supplies intended for its residents.
