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87 Gaza Flotilla Detainees Begin Hunger Strike in Israeli Custody
(MENAFN) Eighty-seven activists seized from the Global Sumud Flotilla have launched a hunger strike inside Israeli detention, demanding their immediate release and expressing solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, the flotilla announced Tuesday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla declared via X, the US-based social media platform, that Israel had — for the second time within three weeks — intercepted and detained its members from international waters, accusing the Israeli military of acting in direct contradiction to its self-proclaimed moral standing.
The flotilla stated that "in protest of their illegal abduction and in solidarity with the over 9,500 Palestinian hostages held in Israeli dungeons, at least 87 flotilla participants have committed to a hunger strike until they are released."
All 50 vessels in the aid convoy were confiscated by Israeli forces, the flotilla confirmed. The ships collectively carried 428 passengers representing 44 nations, among them 78 Turkish nationals.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted on X that all detained activists had been transferred onto Israeli vessels and were en route to Israel, where consular access would be granted.
The flotilla had set sail Thursday from Marmaris, a coastal district in Turkey, in a deliberate effort to pierce what it described as Israel's unlawful blockade of Gaza — a siege in place since 2007. The flotilla called on governments worldwide to condemn the "act of piracy" and demanded the full lifting of the Gaza blockade alongside the unconditional release of all detained flotilla members and Palestinian prisoners.
This latest interception follows a prior Israeli military operation in late April, when flotilla vessels were raided in international waters near the Greek island of Crete. That convoy carried 345 participants from 39 countries, including Turkish citizens.
Israel's blockade has, according to humanitarian assessments, pushed Gaza's 2.4 million residents to the edge of famine. Since October 2023, the Israeli military offensive on the territory has killed more than 72,000 people and wounded upward of 172,000 others, leaving widespread devastation across the enclave.
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