Israeli legal center demands immediate access to detained activists from Gaza aid flotilla

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) – An Israeli legal center condemned an attack on a Gaza aid flotilla on Wednesday and demanded access to activists detained aboard.

“Israel’s assault on unarmed civilians at sea and its seizure of humanitarian vessels constitute a grave breach of international law and highlight the impunity with which Israel continues to act,” Adalah Legal Center said in a statement.

Adalah said it informed the Israeli authorities that it will represent all activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and “demanded immediate access to them upon their arrival in Israel.”

The legal center stressed that it will challenge the unlawful detention and the confiscation of the flotilla ships and aid.

Israeli naval forces attacked and detained all activists aboard a 9-boat convoy, including FFC’s flagship vessel, the Conscience, as it sailed to Gaza to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade on the enclave.

“Before losing all communication early this morning, participants aboard the Conscience — primarily doctors, nurses, and journalists — reported being attacked by an Israeli military helicopter, while Israeli naval forces simultaneously intercepted and boarded the Thousands Madleens sailboats. The vessels were located approximately 120 nautical miles from Gaza, deep in international waters, when the attack took place,” Adalah said.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that all detained activists were being transported to Ashdod Port in southern Israel.

FFC, established in 2010, has launched dozens of missions aimed at delivering aid and drawing global attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Israel-besieged Gaza Strip.

The latest convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week, part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, and detained more than 450 activists on board. Most of them have been deported.

Israel, as the occupying power, has also previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo, and deported the activists on board.

It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and further tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.

Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable. Negotiations to end the war under a 20-point plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump are underway in Egypt.