(Adnkronos) – Twenty-nine Italians detained aboard the Global Sumud Gaza aid flotilla and taken to the port of Ashdod must be freed and “the safety and rights of every single activist be safeguarded”, foreign minister Antonio Tajani told his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar ahead of the arrival at Ashdod on Wednesday of a first group of Italian activists from the flotilla.
“Tajani insisted that the Italian citizens, including an MP and a journalist, be released and allowed to leave as soon as possible, and that the safety and rights of every single activist be safeguarded,” said a foreign ministry statement.
A second group of detained Italian activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla were due to disembark at Ashdod later on Wednesday and officials from the Italian embassy in Tel Aviv are in contact with Israeli authorities at the port to give consular assistance to the activists and aid their return to Italy, said the statement.
Tajani has asked Italy’s ambassador to Israel, Luca Ferrari, “to take a further formal step with the Israeli authorities to request that all Italian citizens participating in the flotilla to Gaza be treated with dignity, be afforded full protection, and have their safety guaranteed during any administrative, security or logistical operations carried out by the local authorities,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said on Monday that its fleet was being boarded in an “illegal, high-seas aggression” about 250 nautical miles (460km) from war-wrecked Gaza, which is under an Israeli maritime blockade. All the boats had been intercepted as of Tuesday evening, according to its tracking data.
On Tuesday, the GSF said that 428 unarmed civilians from over 40 countries have been illegally kidnapped” by Israel’s military. Over 50 Global Sumud Flotilla boats set sail from Turkish port city of Marmaris last week.
