Six more flotilla participants released from Israeli detention
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) says that five people who were participating in their mission to bring aid to the Gaza Strip by sea have been released from Israeli detention, close to 10 days after their ships were illegally intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters.
One other participant, Okey Michael Vitalis, from Nigeria, who was sailing with the Omar Al Mukhtar Flotilla, which was intercepted this week, was also released on Friday, according to the GSF.
Spanish flotilla participant to be deported from Israel: Report
Spanish Global Sumud Flotilla participant, Reyes Rigo Cervilla, 56, is due to be deported from Israel, according to The Times of Israel news outlet.
Cervilla was charged with assault for allegedly scratching a prison guard, according to the report, which said she had pleaded guilty.
According to the Global Sumud Flotilla, Reyes was “brutally assaulted by Israeli prison guards”, and the alleged “assault” she was charged with “stems from her attempt to defend herself and others from that violence”.
Malaysia says all Malaysian flotilla participants detained by Israel have been released
Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shared a statement confirming that all nine Malaysians who participated in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and Thousand Madleens to Gaza (TMTG) humanitarian mission, were released on Friday.
The nine Malaysians were “evacuated from Israel” on a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul where they were expected to “undergo health and medical assessments” before “returning to Malaysia in the coming days”, the ministry said.
The ministry also expressed its “deep appreciation” to the government of Turkiye and other partners that helped secure the “swift release and repatriation of the Malaysian citizens”.
Malaysia is staunchly pro-Palestinian and has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel, but earlier said that its diplomatic missions in the region were “actively engaged in efforts to secure the safe and immediate release of all detained participants”.
One day boats will reach the shore of Gaza and we will be free
On October 10, a ceasefire in Gaza was officially announced. International news media were quick to focus on what they now call “the peace plan”. United States President Donald Trump, they announced, will go to Cairo to oversee the agreement and then to Israel to speak at the Knesset. The air raids over Gaza, they reported, have stopped.
The bombs have indeed stopped, but our suffering continues. Our reality has not changed. We are still under siege. Israel still has full control over our air, land and sea; it is still blocking sick and injured Palestinians from leaving, and journalists, war crimes investigators and activists from going in. It is still controlling what food, medicine, and essential supplies enter.
The siege has lasted more than 18 years, shaping every moment of our lives. I have lived under this blockade since I was just three years old. What kind of peace is this, if it will continue to deny us the freedoms that everyone else has?
