Two Australian nationals from Gaza-bound aid ship released from Israeli custody
Tan Safi and Robert Martin, Australian nationals detained on board a Gaza-bound aid ship by Israeli forces, have been released, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The Handala ship, carrying baby formula, food and medicine, was seized by Israeli forces near the Gaza coast on Saturday night, with 21 unarmed civilians on board, including politicians, medics and volunteers.
According to the coalition, Safi and Martin were released from the Givon Prison in central Israel’s Ramla to the Australian embassy in Jordan.
The Israeli Adalah legal centre said late on Tuesday that seven of 14 remaining activists were transferred to the airport to be deported in the coming hours.
Adalah said that the remaining jailed activists were continuing a hunger strike for a fourth consecutive day, protesting against Israel’s unlawful detention amid “harsh and degrading detention conditions”.
Israeli ministers, lawmakers seek Gaza trip permit ‘to examine settlement options’: Report
Twenty-two cabinet ministers and coalition lawmakers have signed a letter asking Defence Minister Israel Katz to approve a tour of northern Gaza by settlement groups in order to examine possible sites for future illegal Israeli settlements, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.
The letter, signed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Culture Minister Miki Zohar and Social Equality Minister May Golan, among others, calls on Katz to “approve a patrol into the northern border area of the Gaza Strip as part of an initiative by the Nachala Movement’s settlement cadres to examine settlement options in the area”, the report said.
The newspaper said the Nachala organisation is involved in the construction of illegal settlement outposts. Its leader, Daniella Weiss, has been sanctioned by Canada and the UK.
“The Gaza Strip is no longer a geographical area – it is the living heart of the Land of Israel, an area with deep biblical, historical, and national roots,” they continue, arguing that Israel should resettle northern Gaza because it is under full IDF control and “empty of Gaza residents,” the report said.
