The activists, including European lawmakers, were taking part of a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza when their vessels were intercepted.
The activists, including European lawmakers, were taking part of a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza when their vessels were intercepted.
JERUSALEM Hundreds of Israeli police officers were deployed Thursday to the southern port of Ashdod to process some 450 international activists detained by Israeli naval forces hours earlier in the Mediterranean Sea, Israeli authorities said.
The activists, including European lawmakers, were taking part of a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza when their vessels were intercepted, drawing widespread condemnation and sparking protests around the world.
The Global Sumud Flotilla was the largest yet to try to break the blockade, and it comes at a time of growing criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, where its offensive has laid waste to wide swaths of territory and killed tens of thousands of people.
Activists had said they hoped that the sheer number of boats would make it more difficult for Israeli authorities to intercept them all — but Israel’s Foreign Ministry declared the operation over on Thursday afternoon.
Israeli police shared a video showing some 600 officers working on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, considered the holiest in the Jewish calendar, to register the detained activists ahead of their expected deportations.
Thousands of people supporting the flotilla took to the streets in several major cities after news of the interception broke to decry the Israeli operation and the ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip. Italy’s largest union called for a one-day general strike on Friday.
While the majority of marches were peaceful, clashes erupted between police and pro-Palestinian protestors in Paris and in Barcelona, Spain.
The flotilla, which started out with more than 40 boats and some 450 activists, was carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Its main goal, they said, remained “to break Israel’s illegal siege and end the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry dismissed it as a “provocation,” saying that various countries have offered to deliver the aid the boats were carrying. Israel has come under intense criticism for how much aid it lets into Gaza and how it distributes the goods.
