May 20, 2026 | 01:21 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The U.S. Department of the Treasury has officially imposed sanctions on four individuals over their alleged involvement with the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian fleet en route to the Gaza Strip to break Israel's blockade."Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking action against four individuals associated with the pro-Hamas flotilla organized by the U.S.-designated Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) that is attempting to access Gaza in support of Hamas," the U.S. Treasury Department said in a press release on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, as reported by Antara.The sanctions were imposed on Saif Hashim Kamel Abukishe as the organizing committee, Hisham Abdallah Sulayman Abu Mahfuz as the executive secretary-general and president of PCPA, Mohammed Khatib as the European coordinator in Belgium for fundraising on the Samidoun platform, and Jaldia Abubakra Aueda as the Samidoun coordinator in Spain.Additional sanctions were also applied for the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, the Hasm Movement based in Egypt, and the Hamas group, the department said. The fleet convoy, carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, departed from Barcelona on April 15.On April 29-30, the flotilla activists stated that Israeli forces seized their ships near the island of Crete in Greece and damaged their engines and navigation systems. The organizers of the humanitarian convoy said their fleet was surrounded and became the target of forced interception by Israeli warships in international waters, about 250 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza.The abduction by Israel of hundreds of activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla from several countries occurred again on Monday, May 18, 2026.The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that all Indonesian citizens participating in the humanitarian flotilla to the Gaza Strip became victims of the Israeli forces' seizure of their ships."Based on the latest information, 9 Indonesian members of the Global Peace Convoy Indonesia (GPCI) participating in the GSF 2.0 mission have all reportedly been arrested by Israel," said Spokesperson II of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vahd Nabyl A. Mulachela on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.Among the 9 Indonesians kidnapped by Israel were three national media journalists, namely Bambang Noroyono and Thoudy Badai from Republika, and Andre Prasetyo Nugroho from Tempo.Read: Indonesia Still Unable to Contact Nationals Detained by IsraelClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
