Breakaway boat of Global Sumud Flotilla enters Gaza's waters

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - The breakaway Mikeno vessel of the Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla reached Gaza’s territorial waters on Thursday morning.

According to the official flotilla tracker, the vessel has entered Gaza’s territorial waters, however, the tracking signal was lost with the vessel when it was about 9.3 nautical miles from Gaza.

There has been no clear information on whether the vessel has been attacked and towed, evaded the Israeli forces, or if there is an error with the tracker.

The Israeli naval forces attacked the international aid flotilla bound for the besieged Gaza Strip and detained 223 activists on board, organizers said on Thursday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla shared on the US social media company Instagram the names and nationalities of 223 activists aboard the 15 attacked vessels.

The activists aboard the ships attacked by Israel were of various nationalities, including Spaniards, Italians, Brazilians, Turks, Greeks, Americans, Germans, Swedes, British, and French citizens, and many others.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said through the US social media company X that the detained activists are on their way to Israel's Ashdod Port, from which they will be deported to Europe.

The official flotilla tracker showed that 21 vessels have been attacked by the Israeli forces, with 23 others en route to Gaza.