(Adnkronos) – Diplomats are tracking the cases of around a dozen Italians arrested overnight by Israeli forces after they intercepted a second aid flotilla off Gaza’s coast, foreign minister Antonio Tajani wrote Wednesday on X.
“The Italian embassy and Consulate in Tel Aviv have been following since dawn the blockade of the new #Flotilla by the Israeli navy,” read the post.
“About a dozen Italians have been detained. They will be provided with all the necessary consular assistance, with a request to the Israeli government to ensure respect for individual rights until they are repatriated,” the post continued.
The foreign ministry’s crisis unit is also following events, Tajani added.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition wrote on X that three of its vessels “were attacked and illegally intercepted” by Israel’s military early on Wednesday some 200 kilometres off the coast of Gaza.
The Israeli military was jamming signals with at least two boats being boarded and a third boat was “under attack”, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition wrote.
The FFC, an international network of pro-Palestinian activist groups, said it was carrying over $110,000 of medicines, respiratory equipment and nutritional supplies intended for Gaza’s starving hospitals.
The incident came after Israel intercepted about 40 vessels last week and detained over 450 activists including over 40 Italians aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was also attempting to break Israel’s 16-year-long blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians there.
Gaza flotilla members allege beatings and insults in detention in Israel – claims dismissed as “brazen lies” by the Jewish state, which has claimed all the detainees’ rights were “fully upheld”.
The activists’ arrests sparked mass protests across Europe.
