Belgium announces release of 4 nationals detained by Israel

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot announced Monday that four Belgian citizens and one Luxembourg national detained by Israel after attacking the Global Sumud flotilla have been released and are on their way back to Europe.

In a post on the US social media company X, Prevot said the five are heading to Greece, thanking Greek authorities for their cooperation.

“I am delighted that they can reunite with their families safe and sound,” he wrote.

He praised the “particularly active and effective” work of Belgian diplomacy, noting that his ministry remained in contact with the families of those released, as well as with Luxembourg authorities, to coordinate their onward travel to Brussels.

Prevot reiterated Belgium’s commitment to “lifting the humanitarian blockade around Gaza” and called for “a rapid cease-fire accompanied by the release of all hostages.”

Israel had earlier deported around 170 flotilla activists over the past few days, most to Istanbul, with smaller groups sent to Italy and Spain, according to the Israeli legal center Adalah.

Israeli naval forces attacked and seized vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla late Wednesday and detained more than 470 activists from over 50 countries. The flotilla had been attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and challenge Israel’s blockade of the enclave.

Israel has maintained the blockade of Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years.

Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed more than 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable, with the blockade also pushing Gaza to famine.