ISRAEL/GAZA — Pakistan’s former Senator Mushtaq Ahmed remains in Israeli custody despite the release of 29 additional activists who were detained after Israeli forces intercepted the large-scale Gaza aid mission, the Global Sumud Flotilla, in international waters on Wednesday.
The interception, which involved more than 45 vessels carrying over 400 activists and politicians, has resulted in hundreds of detentions. According to an announcement by the Israeli Foreign Minister, 29 more members of the Flotilla were deported, bringing the total number of activists released or deported so far to approximately 170 out of the more than 450 initially detained.
However, over 280 volunteers, including former Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmed, still remain in Israeli custody.
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In a significant development, a large group of detainees is scheduled for release and deportation on Monday. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is among more than 70 people of different nationalities expected to leave Israel today, having been seized aboard one of the intercepted ships.
Most, if not all, of those being released are reportedly being flown to Greece, where their respective governments are coordinating flights to their home countries. The group flying out of Israel on Monday includes 28 French citizens, 27 Greeks, 15 Italians, and nine Swedes. Separately, twenty-one Spanish nationals returned to Spain on Sunday.
Despite these releases, a number of foreigners, including 28 Spanish nationals, remain in Israeli detention alongside ex-senator Ahmed.
All the detained individuals were participating in the 45-vessel Global Sumud Flotilla, an initiative aimed at breaking the ongoing Israeli blockade to deliver essential aid to Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of severe famine. Israel has maintained that the interception was necessary to prevent the vessels from breaking its naval blockade of the Palestinian territory.